Tributes are pouring in for Dame Jilly Cooper, renowned author of novels including Rivals, Riders and Polo, after her death aged 88.
The Queen led tributes for her “wonderfully witty and compassionate” friend, who died on Sunday morning after a fall.
“Very few writers get to be a legend in their own lifetime but Jilly was one, creating a whole new genre of literature and making it her own through a career that spanned over five decades,” Camilla wrote in a message.
She added: “May her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs.”
Her children, Felix and Emily, said her death has come as a “complete shock” and hailed the late author as “a shining light in our lives.”
Dame Jilly, who started out as a journalist, became an author in the 1960s with her first book, How to Stay Married, being published in 1969.
She sold more than 11 million copies of her “bonkbuster” books in the UK, including her best-known series The Rutshire Chronicles.
The second book in the franchise, Rivals, was later made into a hit Disney+ TV series starring David Tennant in 2024.
Jilly Cooper news
- Jilly Cooper has dies unexpectedly after fall, aged 88
- Queen pays tribute to 'wonderfully witty' friend Jilly Cooper
- Family in 'complete shock' after author's death
- Dame Jilly: The queen of the bonkbuster who revolutionised English romance novels
- How Rivals became one of 2024’s biggest shows
Rivals: How Jilly Cooper’s riotous bonkbuster brought us the ultimate unexpected love story
16:26 , Athena Stavrou
Rivals: How Jilly Cooper’s bonkbuster brought us the ultimate unexpected love story
Rivals star thanks Cooper for 'changing my life'
16:04 , Athena StavrouBella McClean who played Agatha ‘Taggie’ O'Hara on Rivals is one of the show’s cast members who has paid tribute to Dame Jilly Cooper.
She wrote on Instagram: "Rest in peace, you extraordinary woman. Thank you for changing my life and so many others for the better. We promise to make you proud and honour the magic world you created."
Reading FC pay tribute to match regular
15:59 , Athena StavrouReading FC has joined the many organisations who have paid tribute to Dame Jilly Cooper.
“Everyone at Reading Football Club would like to extend their thoughts to the friends and family of Dame Jilly Cooper following the sad news of her passing,” the club wrote on X.
“The much-loved author was a regular at the Select Car Leasing Stadium alongside her great friend, Sir John Madejski.”
Everyone at Reading Football Club would like to extend their thoughts to the friends and family of Dame Jilly Cooper following the sad news of her passing.
— Reading FC (@ReadingFC) October 6, 2025
The much-loved author was a regular at the Select Car Leasing Stadium alongside her great friend, Sir John Madejski.… pic.twitter.com/Xxgt7fCckn
Public service of thanksgiving to be held
15:32 , Athena StavrouDame Jilly Cooper’s funeral will be private in line with her wishes, according to her agent.
A public service of thanksgiving will be held in the coming months in Southwark Cathedral to celebrate her life, with a separate announcement made in due course.
Cooper's longstanding love for animals
15:12 , Athena StavrouA known animal lover, Dame Jilly Cooper was a patron of charities and spearheaded the Animals In War Memorial Fund in 1998, which led to a memorial being unveiled in Park Lane in November 2004.
In 1994, the author sent the judge in a case concerning pit bull terrier Buster, who faced destruction, a fax pleading for clemency for the dog, which the judge later described as “a clear contempt of court”.
She has been listed as a patron for Compassion in World Farming, the Racehorse Sanctuary and Rehoming Centre and Secret World Wildlife Rescue.
‘Queen of joy’: Dame Jilly Cooper honoured by Rivals stars after death aged 88
14:55 , Athena Stavrou
‘Queen of joy’: Dame Jilly Cooper honoured by Rivals stars after death aged 88
Dame Jilly Cooper's outspoken views on #MeToo
14:47 , Athena StavrouNot one to shy away from expressing her views on sexual politics, Dame Jilly Cooper appeared to be a critic of the #MeToo movement, saying that women and men “can’t flirt any more”, in a 2018 interview with the Sunday Times.
Speaking to the paper, the author said her lothario character Rupert Campbell-Black, who features in many of her books and is known for his sexual exploits, “would be locked up in prison” in the current climate.
The writer said she felt for those speaking out about sexual abuse and harassment, and that it was “horrible, horrible, horrible”, adding: “But what worries me is that some poor man at the end of his life will be hauled out and told that he jumped on somebody in the year BC.”
Peta remembers Cooper as 'steadfast ally' for animals
14:40 , Athena StavrouA known animal lover, Dame Jilly Cooper has been remembered by PETA as a “steadfast ally”.
In statement, the animal rights charity said: “PETA feels the loss of Dame Jilly Cooper, whose pen brought to light the untold stories of animals in war, and more.
“Her 1983 book, Animals in War, inspired the London memorial that commemorates countless animals who served and suffered alongside humans – yet, as the memorial poignantly states, “had no choice.”
“Cooper not only raised funds for the memorial but also advocated for animal adoption, opposed animal testing, and campaigned for a Fur-Free Britain, including for the abolition of bear pelts used to make the King's Guard caps.
“While known by many for her steamy novels, PETA remembers her as a steadfast ally for animals.
“In her final chapter, let us honour Dame Jilly Cooper by recognising, as she did, that animals are sentient beings deserving of our respect.”
Downing Street celebrates 'literary force' Jilly Cooper
14:28 , Athena StavrouDowning Street said Dame Jilly Cooper’s “wit, warmth and wisdom” had delighted readers.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Dame Jilly Cooper was a literary force whose wit, warmth and wisdom shaped British culture for over half a century and brought joy to millions.”
Penguin pays tribute to 'irreplaceable' Jilly Cooper
14:19 , Athena StavrouPublishers Penguin Books are among the many industry names who have paid tribute to “true trailblazer of literature” Dame Jilly Cooper.
“It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to the irreplaceable Jilly Cooper,” Penguin Books UK wrote in an X post.
“A true trailblazer of literature who changed the course of popular fiction forever with Riders and the Rutshire Chronicles, she was an inspiration to a generation of women, writers and more.
“Thank you, Jilly, for the immense amount of fun and joy you brought to us all. The world is a drabber, less gorgeous place without you.”
RIP Dame Jilly Cooper (1937 – 2025)
— Penguin Books UK (@PenguinUKBooks) October 6, 2025
It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to the irreplaceable Jilly Cooper. A true trailblazer of literature who changed the course of popular fiction forever with Riders and the Rutshire Chronicles, she was an inspiration to a… pic.twitter.com/DWiUm1E9vj
Rivals: How Jilly Cooper brought us the best love story of 2024
14:11 , Athena StavrouDanny Dyer and Katherine Parkinson were the unexpected heart of the hit Jilly Cooper adaptation, writes Helen Coffey:
Rivals: How Jilly Cooper brought us the best love story of 2024
Actor Emily Atack remembers author's 'warmth and kindness'
13:24 , Ellie MuirEmily Atack, who portrays Sarah Stratton in Rivals, has shared a tribute dedicated to the author’s warmth and kindness.
Atack wrote: “Oh Jilly. I can’t believe I’m writing this. I’ll never forget the first time we met. Your warmth and kindness soared through me with that first hug, and then every hug since.”
She continued: “To be taken into your world was the hugest honour and a once in a life time privilege. I cannot begin to explain how much we will miss you. Thank you for letting us into Jilly World, there really is no place like it.”
“Sending all my love to Jilly’s wonderful family. Praying that you all feel somewhat comforted by knowing and seeing just how adored she was. What a woman, what a legacy. We love you Dame Jilly.”
'Rivals' cast members filming second season when they learnt of Cooper's passing
13:19 , Ellie MuirActor Rufus Jones, who plays MP Paul Stratton in the Disney+ Rivals adaptation, said in a statement that the cast learnt of Cooper’s death while filming the second season of the show.
He wrote: “We are almost exactly halfway through filming series two of Rivals, and have just heard that Dame Jilly has left us. What an extraordinary woman.”
Jones said the cast attended Cooper’s famous summer party just last month, adding: “Still giddy at being in the realm of this fantastic person”.
“Hilarious, twinkingly outrageous and kind, we loved being in her company. I remember having lunch on set with her two summers ago, and the stories poured out of her. An incredible one about interviewing Thatcher which – like so much of her master storytelling – was surprising, subverting and deeply human,” he said. “My love and thoughts with Jilly’s friends and family, and the Rivals company. Back to filming a show that was always Hers, but utterly moreso now.”
How the queen of the bonkbuster revolutionised English romance novels
13:01 , Ellie MuirDame Jilly Cooper, the best-selling author famed for her raunchy romance novels, was known for her playful, scandalous and risqué storylines that portrayed the lives of the British elite.
Her most prominent character was personified by the showjumping lothario Rupert Campbell-Black, the central heartthrob in her Rutshire Chronicles book series, about the dalliances of the upper classes in the fictional Cotswolds county of Rutshire.
Cooper’s storylines provided wicked social commentary on the indulgent and outlandish lifestyles of the British upper classes, on everything from class, sex and marriage to rivalry, grief, and even fertility.
While Cooper had ascended to national treasure status before her death, her 18 books – which sold more than 11 million copies in the UK – had often been dismissed by some circles as smutty “bonkbusters”. But her books were also proudly embraced by an expansive, devoted base of readers, including teenagers who would secretly read the books underneath the bedcovers at nighttime.
To Cooper, her books were “a bit of everything”, she told the Guardian in 2016. “But if they want to call it bonkbuster they can – except it ought to be called ‘shagbuster’ now, bonk is out of date.”
Her work has stood the test of time, too: Rivals, the second book in her Rutshire series, was adapted for TV screens last year and won over a new legion of younger fans.
Cooper’s legacy, including her unapologetic embrace of female pleasure and innate outspokenness, has inspired generations of women to say it how it is.
Watch: Jilly Cooper reflects on getting fired at start of her career in one of her final interviews
12:46 , Athena StavrouRishi Sunak pays tribute to Dame Jilly Cooper
12:39 , Athena StavrouFormer prime minister Rishi Sunak has paid tribute to Dame Jilly Cooper.
Famously a fan of Dame Jilly’s “bonkbuster” novels, Mr Sunak wrote on X: “Sad to hear of the passing of Dame Jilly Cooper, a storyteller whose wit and love of character brought joy to millions.
“My thoughts are with her family and fellow readers.”
Sad to hear of the passing of Dame Jilly Cooper, a storyteller whose wit and love of character brought joy to millions.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 6, 2025
My thoughts are with her family and fellow readers.
Queen's tribute follows long-standing friendship with author
12:32 , Athena StavrouQueen Camilla paid a heartfelt tribute to Dame Jilly Cooper after her death on Sunday.
Dame Jilly was a long-standing friend of Camilla, and the author based her fictional seducer and showjumping lothario Rupert Campbell-Black partly on the Queen’s ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles.
In her tribute, the Queen described her as a “legend” and said it was a pleasure to see her “just a few weeks ago at my Queen’s Reading Room Festival where she was, as ever, a star of the show.”
Queen pays tribute to 'wonderfully witty' friend Jilly Cooper
12:19 , Athena StavrouThe Queen has paid tribute to author Dame Jilly Cooper.
Camilla described her as a “legend” and a “wonderfully witty and compassionate friend to me and so many”.
The Queen said in a message: “I was so saddened to learn of Dame Jilly’s death last night.
“Very few writers get to be a legend in their own lifetime but Jilly was one, creating a whole new genre of literature and making it her own through a career that spanned over five decades.
“In person she was a wonderfully witty and compassionate friend to me and so many – and it was a particular pleasure to see her just a few weeks ago at my Queen’s Reading Room Festival where she was, as ever, a star of the show.
“I join my husband the King in sending our thoughts and sympathies to all her family. And may her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs.”
The message was signed “Camilla R”.
How did Dame Jilly Cooper become a treasured author?
12:13 , Athena StavrouBorn in Hornchurch, Essex in 1937, Dame Jilly Cooper grew up in Yorkshire and attended the private Godolphin School in Salisbury.
Her father was a brigadier and her family moved to London in the 1950s where she became a reporter on The Middlesex Independent when she was 20.
She has said she moved to public relations and was sacked from 22 jobs before ending up in book publishing.
She became an author in the 1960s with her first book, How to Stay Married, being published in 1969.
Dame Jilly’s first novel in the Rutshire series, Riders, was published in 1985.
Watch: Jilly Cooper makes cameo appearance in Rivals
12:03 , Athena StavrouGyles Brandreth remembers close friend Cooper as ‘simply adorable’
11:50 , Jacob StolworthyBroadcaster Gyles Brandreth, who was friends with Cooper, shared a tribute in the wake of the author’s death from a fall, aged 88.
He wrote: “Simply adorable. Brilliant, beautiful, funny (so funny), sexy (so sexy!), the best company, the most generous & thoughtful & kind-hearted friend. Jilly Cooper brought sunshine & laughter into the world. And she could write a sizzler of a story. What a lady! What a life! RIP.”
‘Rivals’ showrunner on why he wanted to adapt Cooper’s novel for TV
11:47 , Jacob StolworthyIn an interview with The Independent last year, Rivals showrunner Dominic Treadwell-Collins revealed that TV executives were often dismissive of turning Cooper’s books into a show.
“Everyone said ‘Jilly Cooper, oh, it’s a bit silly,’” recalled the director. “But it’s not silly! She’s an amazing storyteller. There’s a really complicated love story at the heart of it. She pulls apart Britishness and class and the way we all behave towards each other. I think it was a group of people who saw Jilly’s work as naff but another group who saw it as dangerous and sexy,” he says. “I knew I wanted to turn it into telly.”
David Tennant and the Rivals cast on bringing Jilly Cooper’s bonkbuster to screen
Cooper’s publisher says author ‘changed course of popular fiction forever'
11:44 , Jacob StolworthyJilly Cooper’s publisher Bill Scott-Kerr said working with the author over the past 30 years has been “one of the great privileges and joys of my publishing life” – and said she “changed the course of popular fiction forever”.
He wrote: “Beyond her genius as a novelist, she was always a personal heroine of mine for so many other reasons. For her kindness and friendship, for her humour and irrepressible enthusiasm, for her curiosity, for her courage, and for her profound love of animals.
“Jilly may have worn her influence lightly but she was a true trailblazer. As a journalist she went where others feared to tread and as a novelist she did likewise.
“With a winning combination of glorious storytelling, wicked social commentary and deft, lacerating characterisation, she dissected the behaviour, bad mostly, of the English upper middle classes with the sharpest of scalpels.
“It is no exaggeration to say that Riders, her first Rutshire chronicle, changed the course of popular fiction forever. Ribald, rollicking and the very definition of good fun, it, and the 10 Rutshire novels which followed it, were to inspire a generation of women, writers and otherwise, to tell it how it was, whilst giving us a cast of characters who would define a generation and beyond.”
He added: “A publishing world without a new Jilly Cooper novel on the horizon is a drabber, less gorgeous place and we shall mourn the loss of a ground-breaking talent and a true friend.”
More ‘Rivals’ stars pay tribute to Jilly Cooper
11:39 , Jacob StolworthyActor Gary Lamont, who played Corinium TV controller Charles Fairburn in the Disney+ Rivals adaptation, said in a tribute: “There is nothing like a Dame. A privilege to have been in her orbit.”
Meanwhile, Victoria Smurfit, who played Maud O’Hara, said Cooper was like “Paddington bear with a naughty twinkle”.
The actor wrote on Instagram: “Our divine Queen has gone to the sky. Her words will live forever but the way she made you feel, when in her company was human sunshine. Jilly was everything that was good about being a person. Paddington bear with a naughty twinkle. All love to her beautiful and loving family and friends. Will miss that Dame so much.”
Piers Morgan honours 'fabulously fun’ Jilly Cooper
11:38 , Jacob StolworthyBroadcaster Piers Morgan remembered Cooper as “a fabulously fun, mischievous, warm-heated lady”.
He wrote: “If she was in a room, everyone would feel instantly cheerier. Very sad news.”
Jilly Cooper cameoed in TV show ‘Rivals’
11:35 , Jacob StolworthyTV series Rivals doffed its cap to Jilly Cooper by featuring a cameo of the author herself in episode five.
Cooper was an executive producer on the series, which aired on Disney+.
You can watch Cooper’s brief appearance below:
Kay Burley said ‘Rivals’ character had ‘quite the influence’ on her
11:33 , Jacob StolworthyBritish broadcaster Kay Burley remembered Jilly Cooper as “fabulous” – and said that Rivals character Rupert Campbell Black (the British nobleman and MP played in the series by Alex Hassell) had “quite the influence on my early 20s”.
Adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s 'Rivals’ became one of 2024’s biggest shows
11:30 , Jacob StolworthyWhen the TV adapation of Rivals was released last year, it arrived almost 40 years after Jilly Cooper published the novel.
The series became one of the most discussed of the year – with a relationship between characters Freddie and Lizzie, played by Danny Dyer and Katherine Parkinson, capturing the hearts of the nation.
Shortly after news of Cooper’s death was announced, Dyer reshared a tribute to the author.
David Tennant and the Rivals cast on bringing Jilly Cooper’s bonkbuster to screen
Adam Kay says 'we’ve lost one of the greats’
11:25 , Jacob StolworthyWriter Adam Kay (This Is Going to Hurt) paid tribue to Jilly Cooper, and revealed they were once “unlikely” pen pals.
Family say Cooper’s death ‘has come as a complete shock'
11:20 , Jacob StolworthyThe author’s children Felix and Emily have shared a statement on the news.
“Mum was the shining light in all of our lives. Her love for all of her family and friends knew no bounds. Her unexpected death has come as a complete shock.
“We are so proud of everything she achieved in her life and can’t begin to imagine life without her infectious smile and laughter all around us.”
Working with Cooper was the ‘privilege of my career’, agent says
11:17 , Jacob StolworthyIn a statement on Cooper’s passing, her agent Felicity Blunt, said that it had been the privilege of her career to work with the author.
“Jilly will undoubtedly be best remembered for her chart-topping series The Rutshire Chronicles and its havoc-making and handsome show-jumping hero Rupert Campbell-Black.
“You wouldn’t expect books categorised as bonkbusters to have so emphatically stood the test of time but Jilly wrote with acuity and insight about all things – class, sex, marriage, rivalry, grief and fertility.
“Her plots were both intricate and gutsy, spiked with sharp observations and wicked humour. She regularly mined her own life for inspiration and there was something Austenesque about her dissections of society, its many prejudices and norms.
“But if you tried to pay her this compliment, or any compliment, she would brush it aside. She wrote, she said, simply ‘to add to the sum of human happiness’. In this regard as a writer she was and remains unbeatable.”
She added: “Emotionally intelligent, fantastically generous, sharply observant and utter fun Jilly Cooper will be deeply missed by all at Curtis Brown and on the set of Rivals.
“I have lost a friend, an ally, a confidante and a mentor. But I know she will live forever in the words she put on the page and on the screen.”
Cooper called one of 'world’s greatest storytellers'
11:15 , Jacob StolworthyTributes have already started for Cooper. Happy Prince TV, the drama label run by award-winning producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins, that produced Rivals for Disney+ said that they were “heartbroken” about the news.
“Jilly was is and always will be one of the world’s greatest storytellers and it has been the most incredible honour to have been able to work with her to adapt her incredible novels for television.
“Crawling around on her sitting room floor with storylines on pieces of paper, sitting up late at her kitchen table holding hands with love and our tummies with laughter, receiving scoldings and heaps of wisdom in equal measure, watching her eyes sparkling as she sat behind the monitor on set watching Rutshire brought to life - every moment spent with Jilly Cooper was bloody marvellous. We have been so lucky to be able to call her our friend - and know that her legacy will endure in her writing, her television and the encouragement to have fun that she gave us all.”
Jilly Cooper has died, aged 88
11:13 , Jacob StolworthyJilly Cooper, the author best known for The Rutshire Chronicles book series, has died aged 88, after suffering a fall.
