Dame Jilly Cooper, one of Britain’s most beloved and enduring writers, has died at the age of 88 after a fall at her home in Gloucestershire. Famous for her bestselling novels packed with romance and witty humour, Cooper created an entire literary genre of her own, which has been dubbed the bonkbuster. Her books, such as Riders, Rivals, and the rest of The Rutshire Chronicles, have sold well over 11 million copies in the UK alone, making her one of the most successful authors in the country.
News of her passing prompted an outpouring of grief and tributes from the literati and the entertainment industry, as well as from members of the royal family. Queen Camilla led the tributes, acknowledging Dame Cooper as a “legend” and a “wonderfully witty compassionate friend,” fondly adding her wishes that “her hereafter be filled with impossible handsome men and devoted dogs.”
Felix and Emily, Dame Cooper’s children, shared that their mother’s passing came as quite a shock, describing her as “the shining light in all our lives,” reminiscing about the love she had for her friends and family.
Born in 1937, Dame Jilly Cooper pursued a career as a journalist before she published her first book, How to Stay Married, in 1969, before moving on to pen a series of sharp and witty non-fiction guides that peeked into the lives and quirks of British society. However, it was only after her venture into fiction that her fame elevated her to become a household name.
She published her first novel, Riders, in 1985, as part of The Rutshire Chronicles, which was brimming with scandalous affairs and competitive rivalries among the British upper class. Detailing horses and showjumping, she centres her stories around her iconic protagonist, Rupert Campbell-Black.
She continued the chronicles, following up with the second novel, Rivals, three years later. The novel was revived in 2024 for the new generation with the launch of an adaptation in the form of a hit Disney+ series, which starred legendary A-listers like David Tennant, Katherine Parkinson, Danny Dyer, and Emily Atack, with Cooper taking up the role of executive producer.
Her long-time agent Felicity Blunt also paid tribute to her and said that working with Cooper was “the privilege of my career” and praised her for writing books that “stood the test of time” due to their insight into “class, sex, marriage, rivalry, grief, and fertility.”
Blunt added that on top of it, Cooper’s writing had an Austenesque quality and that “her dissections of society, its prejudices and norms, were as clever as they were entertaining.”
Cooper had been married to her husband, Leo Cooper, for more than 50 years, until his passing in 2013. Their marriage was both enduring and occasionally turbulent, something she drew upon for her writing. Her sense of humour, warmth, and refusal to take herself too seriously made her loved by readers and peers alike.
Her publisher, Bill Scott-Kerr, described her as “a true trailblazer,” stating, “As a journalist she went where others feared to tread, and as a novelist she did likewise.” He credited her with “changing the course of popular fiction forever” with her mix of “glorious storytelling, wicked social commentary, and deft, lacerating characterisation.”
Tributes also poured in from those who knew her personally. Dame Joanna Lumley, who appeared in Cooper’s 1971 sitcom It’s Awfully Bad for Your Eyes, Darling, called her “entirely generous, hugely talented, and wholly loveable.” Clare Balding remembered her as someone who “loved dogs, horses, and people of all ages,” while Piers Morgan said she was “a fabulously entertaining, mischievous, warm-hearted lady.”
Kirstie Allsopp called her “a British institution”, and Adam Kay, author of This Is Going to Hurt, said, “We have lost one of the greats.” Gyles Brandreth described her as “brilliant, beautiful, funny, sexy — the best company and the most generous and kind-hearted friend.”
In her later years, Cooper enjoyed seeing her work rediscovered by new generations of audiences, with her last novel, Tackle, being published in 2023, marking her return to the world of Rutshire one final time. She also took on the role of executive producer on The Rivals adaptation, relishing the process of seeing her characters brought to life on screen.
Producers Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Alex Lamb, who worked closely with her, shared every moment spent with her was “bloody marvellous.” They remembered her “crawling around on her sitting room floor with storylines on pieces of paper,” and “watching her eyes sparkle as she saw Rutshire come alive.”
A private family funeral will be held, with a public service of thanksgiving planned at Southwark Cathedral in London in the coming months.
