Press intrusion forced me out of my home, says JK Rowling

She recalled the “sense of invasion” when discovering the letter as she realised even her daughter’s school wasn’t secure from Press intrusion. In a separate incident, a journalist from the Scottish Sun had fabricated a story that her daughter had been telling classmates Harry Potter died in the final instalment of the bestselling series.

Ms Rowling also told of her fury when Ok! magazine published a picture of her daughter, then aged eight, in a swimsuit while on holiday in Mauritius. The picture remained on the internet for months despite a Press Complaints Commission ruling to remove it.

“A child, no matter who their parents are, I think deserves privacy,” she said. “Where children are concerned, I think the issue is fairly black and white.

“I think it would have to be extreme public interest to justify pictures of children, particularly without their consent.”

The author said that journalists forced her out of the home she bought in 1997 with the advance from the first of her seven Harry Potter books. She felt like a “sitting duck” after a photograph was published of the house number and street name, making it “untenable” to live there.

Actress Sienna Miller and former motorsport boss Max Mosley also gave evidence on the fourth day of the inquiry.

Ms Miller said how she became “pretty convinced” that family and friends were leaking personal information to the Press after journalists repeatedly followed her.

On one occasion, a reporter found out about a “very private” piece of information shared with only four people, including her mother, after hacking into phone messages.

“I am very lucky, I have a very tight group of friends and a very supportive family, and to this date no-one has ever sold a story on me,” she said.

“But it was baffling how certain pieces of information kept coming out and the first initial steps I took were to change my mobile number.

“And then I changed it again and again, and I ended up changing it three times in three months.

“Naturally, having changed my number and being pretty convinced that it couldn’t be as a result of hacking, I accused my friends and family of selling stories and they accused each other as well.”

Mr Mosley accused the Government of having been “completely in the thrall of” newspaper bosses and called on the European courts to rule that journalists must notify people before stories are published.

Mosley was the subject of a News of the World article alleging he had taken part in a Nazi-themed orgy in March 2008.

He later received a record £60,000 damages payout at the High Court.

The ex-Formula One boss said: “The UK government were, to put it bluntly, completely in the thrall of Mr Murdoch and the other big newspaper people, who would have objected.

“That spell has now been broken, I think, fairly conclusively, and I don’t see any reason why such a law should not be brought in.”

He added that the allegations contributed to the death of his son, Alexander, who had been a drug addict, in May 2009.

“For my sons, to see pictures of your father in that sort of situation all over the newspapers, all over the web ... he really couldn’t bear it.

“He went back on the drugs and it would not be right to say he committed suicide, he didn’t ...

“But like many people on hard drugs, it’s extremely dangerous and you can make a small mistake and you die and that’s what happened.”

They gave evidence after MPs heard from a witness known only as HJK, who is believed to have had an affair with a high-profile figure and had his phone hacked in 2006.

His evidence was heard in private because of a court order.

The Inquiry resumes on Monday.