Queen Camilla has led tributes to bestselling novelist Lord Jeffrey Archer after his sudden death at the age of 86, hailing him as “an exception to the end”. She acknowledged that the former politician “was not without flaw” but, in her capacity as founder of the Queen's Reading Room, remembered his exceptional five-decade writing career, which saw him sell more than 300 million books.
A personal message from the Queen
The Queen said in a personal message: “Seldom does an author get to live a life as rich, varied and colourful as any of the characters in their books, or with as many surprising plot twists.
“Jeffrey Archer was an exception to the end. It was therefore with sadness that I learned of his death yesterday, on the eve of publication of his final work and so soon after appearing at my Queen’s Reading Room Festival.
“My sympathies go to Mary and the family at this time of sorrow. I hope it may be some consolation for them to know what pleasure Jeffrey brought to so many millions of readers and to me through the pages of his works.
“While he was not without flaw, his friends will recall him as an irrepressible life force through all the many differing chapters of his life.
“Wherever the next page turns to, I trust there will be champagne and Shepherd’s Pie in abundance.”
Publisher's tribute
In a statement on Monday, Lord Archer’s publisher HarperCollins said the author died “suddenly and peacefully at home” between writing sessions. The former Conservative MP was jailed for perjury in 2001 after being found guilty of lying and cheating in his 1987 libel case against the Daily Star.
HarperCollins described him as a “master storyteller” and said his readers “meant everything to him”. The publisher added: “Jeffrey’s career is the stuff of publishing legend.”
The publisher added that Archer was “phenomenally hard-working” and “utterly committed to completing draft after draft to get every word as perfect as possible”. HarperCollins said he was also “an editor’s dream”, praising his dedication to his work and describing him as “a true champion of the ‘team’ nature of great publishing”.
Literary legacy
Lord Archer spent 14 years and five months on The Sunday Times bestseller lists and five and a half years on the New York Times bestseller lists. His books were sold in 119 countries and translated into 49 languages, with total sales reaching 300 million. Many of his books were set in or around his home town of Wellington in Somerset.
His death came just one day before the publication of his final book, Adam and Eve, on Tuesday, October 6.
