Cooper authored the best-selling Rutshire Chronicles series
Beloved author Dame Jilly Cooper has passed away at the age of 88. The cherished writer, known for her books such as Riders and Rivals, sadly died following a fall, with her family sharing the devastating news today.
Jilly’s children, Felix and Emily, confirmed their mother’s passing on Sunday morning after a fall. In a heartfelt statement, her family said: “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.”
As per Jilly’s wishes, her funeral will be private, but a public service of thanksgiving will be held in the coming months at Southwark Cathedral to celebrate Jilly and her remarkable life, reports the Mirror.
Felicity Blunt, her agent, also shared a touching tribute: “The privilege of my career has been working with a woman who has defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over fifty years ago. 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.”
She added: “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.”
The statement continued: “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.”
Felicity added: “She wrote, she said, simply ‘to add to the sum of human happiness’. In this regard as a writer she was and remains unbeatable. In her last few years Jilly added to her curriculum vitae by serving as an executive producer on the Happy Prince adaptation of her novel Rivals for Disney+. Her suggestions for story and dialogue inevitably layered and enhanced scripts and her presence on set was a joy for cast and crew alike. 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.”
She concluded: “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.”
Looking for more from MyLondon? Subscribe to our daily newsletters here for the latest and greatest updates from across London.
