THE Queen, JK Rowling and US Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour became the only British women to be named in a list of the 100 most powerful women in the world by business magazine Forbes.

The Queen, who at 87 is the oldest on the list, dropped from 26 to 40, Ms Wintour was just one place behind, having seen her ranking rise by 10 places to 41.

Scots Harry Potter author JK Rowling fell further down the ladder for yet another year, dropping from 78 to 93.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was named as the most powerful woman in the world by Forbes for the third year running.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is second, while Melinda Gates, co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is third in a list dominated by Americans.

Michelle Obama climbed three places from last year to reach fourth.

The prestigious list, which is in its 10th year, uses rankings of wealth, media presence and impact to rate its candidates.

In a sign of the growing importance of social media, the 100 women on the 2013 list boast a combined Twitter following of more than 153 million – up from the 90 million who followed last year's.

Moira Forbes, president of ForbesWoman, said: "This year's Power Women exert influence in very different ways, and to very different ends, and all with very different impacts on the global community.