Britain's top five female earners

JK Rowling, author - �20.5m Nikki Beckett, computers - �14.03m Winifred Linnett, property - �9.76m Angela Dawes, computers - �8.3m Jane Cavanagh, computer games - �5.62m

The Harry Potter series, about a schoolboy wizard, started life when Rowling was day-dreaming on a train journey to London.

Her fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was launched in July and shot into the record books by selling more than a third of a million copies on its first day.

JK Rowling is among 64 women on the newspaper's top 100 list who earned more than �1m in the past year.

The second-highest earner was Nikki Beckett, who made �14.03m by selling shares in her computer business, NSB Retail Systems.

Laura Davies is the highest earning sportswoman

Eight out of the top 10 earners on the list are businesswomen but those in showbusiness also featured strongly.

Singer Sarah Brightman came in at number 10 with �4m, while ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell earned �3.7m, placing her at number 12.

Golfer Laura Davies was the only sportswoman to make the list, earning �1.3m.

And the youngest person on the list is 14-year-old Welsh classical singer Charlotte Church, whose �3.5m income last year puts her in 14th place.

Despite a collective income of �212m, Britain's top 100 female earners still have a long way to go before they rival their American counterparts.

Last year talk show host Oprah Winfrey alone took home �90m.