Has Harry Potter star Emma Watson got secretly engaged after describing pressure to marry as a ‘violence and cruelty’ against women?
Savaged by Harry Potter author J K Rowling last week for being ‘ignorant of how ignorant she is’ over her views on transgender rights, Watson nevertheless arrived at Paris Fashion week on Monday with a beaming smile.
A clue to her happiness could, perhaps, be on her left hand.
The actress, 35, who played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, was wearing an impressive, vintage-style sparkler on her ring finger containing a large diamond.
And she seemed unusually keen to spend time in front of the cameras outside the Miu Miu show at the Palais d’lena.
Her boyfriend is Kieran Brown, whom she met while studying for her part-time master’s degree in creative writing at Oxford University, where he is pursuing a PHD.
Has Harry Potter star Emma Watson got secretly engaged after describing pressure to marry as a ‘violence and cruelty’ against women?
The actress, who played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, was wearing an impressive, vintage-style sparkler on her ring finger containing a large diamond.
Her boyfriend is Kieran Brown (pictured with the actress), whom she met while studying for her part-time master’s degree in creative writing at Oxford University, where he is pursuing a PHD
It’s thought that they’ve been going out for more than a year.
Last month, Emma described the societal pressure to marry as a ‘violence and cruelty’ against women.
But she added of marriage on the podcast with Jay Shetty: ‘I hope it happens to me, but I don’t feel entitled to it.
‘It will either be part of my purpose here and my destiny, or it won’t.’
Having been criticised by Rowling for her aloof nature as a pampered movie star, the actress attempted to show a more grounded side by playfully arriving for the Miu Miu show on a bike.
Rowling said the actress’s public criticism of her gender critical stance had ‘poured more petrol on the flames’ of the abuse she had suffered.
The writer also dismissed Emma’s recent claim that she ‘still treasures’ her by accusing the star of ‘cosying up’ to a movement that ‘regularly calls for a friend’s assassination’.
Rowling has previously vowed to ‘never forgive’ Emma or her Harry Potter co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint for having ‘cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights’.
Watson seemed unusually keen to spend time in front of the cameras outside the Miu Miu show at the Palais d’lena
The actress was surrounded by autograph hunters as she left the venue later that day
Having been criticised by Rowling for her aloof nature as a pampered movie star, the actress attempted to show a more grounded side on Monday evening
Watson appeared to be in high spirits during her latest appearance in the French capital
But she has never previously made such a personal criticism of the woman she made famous.
In a statement on Monday, Rowling said the trio had ‘every right to embrace gender identity ideology’ but attacked them for using their links to Harry Potter to serve as ‘de facto spokespeople’ for the ‘world I created’.
Rowling then focussed her fire on Emma by suggesting her views on trans rights were due to her lack of experience of ‘real life’.
The actress recently blamed her driving ban on being a movie star from a young age, saying it had left her ‘unable to do some pretty basic life things’.
Rowling raged: ‘I wasn’t a multimillionaire at fourteen. I lived in poverty while writing the book that made Emma famous.
‘I therefore understand from my own life experience what the trashing of women’s rights in which Emma has so enthusiastically participated means to women and girls without her privileges.’
Surprisingly, the actress arrived at the Miu Miu show in Paris on the back of a motorbike
Rowling pictured with Watson at the world premiere of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part One in 2011
Rowling went on to claim that Emma’s recent claim that she still ‘treasures’ her was a cynical attempt to shift her stance after realising ‘full-throated condemnation of me is not as fashionable as it once was’.
She said she had felt compelled to go on the record following Emma’s comments last week.
Speaking to On Purpose with Jay Shetty, the actress said her support for trans rights did not mean she had turned against the woman who shaped her life.
Emma said: ‘I really don’t believe that by having had that experience and holding the love and support and views that I have, mean that I can’t and don’t treasure Jo and the person that I, that I had personal experiences with.’
Rowling insisted she did not expect Emma, Daniel Radcliffe or Rupert Grint to agree with her on everything and they ‘have every right to embrace gender identity ideology’.
But she added: ‘Emma and Dan in particular have both made it clear over the last few years that they think our former professional association gives them a particular right – nay, obligation – to critique me and my views in public.
Rowling said she had long felt ‘protective’ over the former child star before their very public falling out (pictured in 2002)
‘Years after they finished acting in Potter, they continue to assume the role of de facto spokespeople for the world I created.’
Continuing her statement, Rowling said she had found it ‘hard to shake’ a feeling of ‘protectiveness’ for people she had first met as child actors.
But she said Emma’s declaration in a speech at the 2022 Baftas that she was ‘here for all the witches’ – which was widely interpreted as a dig against her gender critical views – had prompted a change of heart.
‘For the past few years, I’ve repeatedly declined invitations from journalists to comment on Emma specifically, most notably on the Witch Trials of JK Rowling.
‘Ironically, I told the producers that I didn’t want her to be hounded as the result of anything I said. The television presenter in the attached clip highlights Ms Watson’s ‘all witches’ speech, and in truth, that was a turning point for me, but it had a postscript that hurt far more than the speech itself.
‘Emma asked someone to pass on a handwritten note from her to me, which contained the single sentence ‘I’m so sorry for what you’re going through’ (she has my phone number).
‘This was back when the death, rape and torture threats against me were at their peak, at a time when my personal security measures had had to be tightened considerably and I was constantly worried for my family’s safety.
Speaking to On Purpose with Jay Shetty, the actress said her support for trans rights did not mean she had turned against the woman who shaped her life
‘I really don’t believe that by having had that experience and holding the love and support and views that I have, mean that I can’t and don’t treasure Jo and the person that I, that I had personal experiences with’
‘Emma had just publicly poured more petrol on the flames, yet thought a one line expression of concern from her would reassure me of her fundamental sympathy and kindness.’
In by far her most personal criticism yet, Rowling suggested the actress had been blinded by wealth and privilege.
‘Like other people who’ve never experienced adult life uncushioned by wealth and fame, Ms Watson has so little experience of real life she’s ignorant of how ignorant she is.
‘She’ll never need a homeless shelter. She’s never going to be placed on a mixed sex public hospital ward. I’d be astounded if she’s been in a high street changing room since childhood.
‘Her ‘public bathroom’ is single occupancy and comes with a security man standing guard outside the door. Has she had to strip off in a newly mixed-sex changing room at a council-run swimming pool?
‘Is she ever likely to need a state-run rape crisis centre that refuses to guarantee an all-female service? To find herself sharing a prison cell with a male rapist who’s identified into the women’s prison?
‘I wasn’t a multimillionaire at fourteen. I lived in poverty while writing the book that made Emma famous.
‘I therefore understand from my own life experience what the trashing of women’s rights in which Emma has so enthusiastically participated means to women and girls without her privileges.’
Her spokesman declined to comment on whether they’re engaged.
