SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: J. K. Rowling’s planning application slammed as ‘completely garbled’

J. K. Rowling has fallen foul of the bigwigs of Edinburgh Council who have taken exception to the quality of her latest paperwork

Her spellbinding tales have enthralled children across the world, earning her a stupendous fortune in the process.

But J. K. Rowling has fallen foul of the bigwigs of Edinburgh Council who have taken exception to the quality of her latest paperwork — an application for renovations and alterations at her 31-room, 17th-century mansion in the north-west of the city — dismissing it as ‘completely garbled’.

I can reveal that in a letter sent to the author and her husband, Neil Murray, the council categorises the couple’s application as ‘incomplete’ — though it is the words accompanying drawings of the existing structure and of the proposed alterations that attract particular derision.

These, the council insists, must be re-submitted because ‘the text on the drawings is completely garbled’.

The letter goes on to instruct: ‘Also, on the proposed elevation drawing, colour the new window and door or show them highlighted with a translucent yellow overlay.’

Rowling, 53, paid more than £2 million for the property in 2009, having been captivated by it after reportedly inspecting only two of its rooms. Three years later, she and Murray were granted permission to create a playground in the garden for their son and daughter, which included a 40 ft-high, two-storey treehouse worthy of Hogwarts.

David and Mackenzie are now 15 and 13, which might explain why the couple might now want to convert a games room into a new kitchen, alongside other minor work.

Rowling, who also has an adult daughter, Jessica, 25, from her brief unhappy first marriage to Portuguese journalist Jorge Arantes, has repeatedly taunted President Donald Trump about his uneasy relationship with the English language, and last week parodied one of his tweets, posting: ‘I do’nt care what Kids at School call me because they are all Disgusting Fake Losers and my Real Friends go to a diffrent Scool you haven’t heard of and they think Im the Coolest and Smartest and we go to parties and I don’t have to tell you there Names for this to be True.’

Perhaps she should offer a helping hand to her architects, Hoare, Ridge & Morris, who made the application on her behalf. They hail — in a fittingly Harry Potter way — from Snape in Suffolk.

Fashion mogul Dame Natalie Massenet, who founded the £350 million online retailer Net-a-Porter, is rarely seen with a hair out of place. So it was a sight to behold when the 53-year-old finally let her hair down — or should that be up? Heading home from a holiday in New York, the mother of three posted a snap taken in her convertible car of her windswept mane (above) with the caption: ‘Hamptons Summer 2018 Over and Out.’

Fashion mogul Dame Natalie Massenet, who founded the £350 million online retailer Net-a-Porter, is rarely seen with a hair out of place. So it was a sight to behold when the 53-year-old finally let her hair down ¿ or should that be up?

Fashion mogul Dame Natalie Massenet, who founded the £350 million online retailer Net-a-Porter, is rarely seen with a hair out of place. So it was a sight to behold when the 53-year-old finally let her hair down — or should that be up?

  • Is Jeremy Vine a little sore that he’s been ruled out to replace David Dimbleby as the host of BBC’s Question Time? Following news that he has signed up to host a new Channel 5 morning show in the Wright Stuff slot, the Radio 2 presenter muses: ‘I think this is a better show than Question Time. It’s on more hours in the week. It’s got more traffic coming through it. It’s ferociously modern. It involves the viewer in a different way. And it’s fun.’ Protesting too much?

Toasting a fourth win, French & Saunders 2.0

Ab fab star Jennifer Saunders earned her drop of Bolly this weekend when her horse, Cooley Monsoon — named after her Ab Fab character Edina Monsoon — galloped to victory at the Blair Castle International Horse Trials.

Pictured celebrating with the rider, Georgina ‘Piggy’ French, 38, at the novice-level race (right), the 60-year-old looked delighted. It’s the pair’s fourth win this year, with the comedian scooping £1,000.

Pictured celebrating with the rider, Georgina ¿Piggy¿ French, 38, at the novice-level race (right), the 60-year-old looked delighted. It¿s the pair¿s fourth win this year, with the comedian scooping £1,000

Pictured celebrating with the rider, Georgina ‘Piggy’ French, 38, at the novice-level race (right), the 60-year-old looked delighted. It’s the pair’s fourth win this year, with the comedian scooping £1,000

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk