Jilly Cooper's publisher Bill Scott-Kerr says working with her for the last 30 years has been "one of the great privileges and joys of my publishing life".

He continues: "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."

Calling her a "true trailblazer" – Scott-Kerr says that as both a novelist and a journalist "she went where others feared to tread".

"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."

Daniela Relph
Senior royal correspondent

I interviewed Jilly Cooper at her home in Gloucestershire a couple of years ago. It was a boiling hot summer day and we sat in her picture-perfect garden.

I was due to spend 20 minutes talking to her about the royal family. Almost three hours later, we stopped chatting.

She had a notebook with her where she’d write things down – a story she remembered or a turn of phrase. She said the notebook had been rich pickings for her writing over the years.

We covered a lot of ground in those three hours – Kings, Queens, husbands, divorces, children, footballers, the BBC, filthy jokes, feminism.

And that was just for starters. She was warm, fun, terribly posh but not at all snobby with a fierce intellect.

Image source, PA Media

Reaction is beginning to come through following the news of Jilly Cooper’s death aged 88.

TV Presenter Kirstie Allsopp writes on X: "I know 88 is a good age but this is very sad news.

"British institution, funny, enthusiastic and self-deprecating, we don’t see enough of it these days. Bless you Dame Jilly, Rest in Peace."

Image source, Dave Benett/Getty Images for Disney+

Dame Jilly Cooper was the undisputed queen of the British bonkbuster.

Her novels are joyous descriptions of a fantasy world where monied men cast smouldering glances and women are instantly aroused.

Chief amongst them were the Rutshire Chronicles: unputdownable tales of sexual intrigue among the polo-playing classes - including such classics as Rivals, Riders and The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous.

In Rutshire - Cooper's fictional county - everyone drinks like they have hours to live, outdoor sex is practically compulsory, and few vows of marriage survive until the final page.

And in 2024, a Disney+ adaptation of Rivals, with its witty mixture of class-conflict, saucy sex and gentle social satire, proved that her basic recipe was still hugely popular.

More now from agent Felicity Blunt, who says of Dame Jilly: "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'."

Blunt says Dame Jilly was "emotionally intelligent, fantastically generous, sharply observant and utter fun".

"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," she adds.

Image source, PA Media

Dame Jilly Cooper's agent Felicity Blunt says it's been the privilege of her career to work with "a woman who has defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over 50 years ago".

Here's a little more of her statement:

"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."

Image source, PA Media

Author Dame Jilly Cooper's children Felix and Emily release a statement, saying their mother died after a fall on Sunday morning.

"Mum was the shining light in all of our lives," the statement says.

"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."

Image source, Getty Images

Author Dame Jilly Cooper has died at the age of 88, a spokesperson has said.