London - "Admittedly that Légion d'honneur humbug about some fictional French relative was a bit of a clanger," the Beeb's head of light entertainment said today.
"Still, an easy mistake to make, considering."
The admission comes as a new rehash of the popular TV series 'Who The Hell Do You Think You Are, Eh?' sees the children's fiction blagger promote her outrageous ancestry claims courtesy of the hoodwinked UK TV licence fee payer.
The latest reinvention trumpets the preposterous self-publicising daughter of TV gargoyle Anne Robinson in a new heart-warming light - as the descendant of countless brave generations of unwed mothers.
Last week programme editors were forced back to the cutting room floor after Rowling's claims that her 'great grandfather' Louis Volant had been awarded France's top gong proved to be a load of rubbish.
"Actually, we always suspected she might be sexing up her bog-standard lineage," a studio hand who asked to remain anonymous said today.
"Still, as a walking work of fiction herself it wasn't that surprising when she got outed about the Légion d'honneur whopper."
The new TV series is scheduled for release on April 1 2012.
