Author JK Rowling has said that bidding farewell to Harry Potter was more painful than getting divorced.
The multi-millionaire was teary-eyed as she was honoured for the Outstanding Achievement award at the South Bank Show Awards.
Last year saw the publication of the seventh and final book, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'.
"It has been the worst break-up of my life - far worse than splitting up with any man," Rowling, 42, told the audience at London's Dorchester Hotel.
She added: "But it has also been wonderful to stop and draw breath and think, 'My God, look what's happened with an idea I had 17 years ago on a train'."
Director and actor Richard Attenborough presented the award. He joked that he would have loved a role in the Harry Potter films.
"I've got a great complaint against the recipient...I think I must be the only English actor of my generation who has got absolutely bugger all out of this extraordinary series that has been read by millions and made into movies," he said.
He added: "Surely there must have been something I could have played?"
Rowling joked that he could take the role of Albus Dumbledore in the next film, saying: "Michael Gambon will shortly be having a hideous accident."
The Harry Potter books have sold more than 400m copies worldwide and earned the author an estimated £545m fortune.
Rowling wrote the first book while a struggling single mother in Edinburgh, having split from first husband, Jorge Arantes.
Rowling said: "There has always been a real disconnection in my mind between the fictional world in which I've spent so many hours and what the printed books were doing in the real world ... although I absolutely noticed the royalty cheques coming in."
Backstage after accepting her award, the author dashed the hopes of Potter fans who would love her to revisit Harry.
"I think I've definitely finished his story. I said seven books and there have been seven," she said.
Rowling is already working on her next project, although she would not be drawn on its subject: "I am writing, it's a compulsion with me. I'm not in a mad hurry to publish because I've had 10 years of deadlines."
