Dame Jilly Cooper was honoured at a memorial service at Southwark Cathedral on Friday, 30 January, attended by the Queen and stars from the television adaptation of her novel Rivals. The author died on 5 October after a fall, aged 88.
Among the guests were actors Danny Dyer, David Tennant, Dame Joanna Lumley, Rupert Everett, Sir Derek Jacobi, and sports broadcaster Clare Balding. Jacobi described Cooper as a “glorious lady” whom he “loved very much”.
Gardener and TV personality Alan Titchmarsh, a friend for 40 years, called the author “hugely genuine”. Actor Stanley Tucci, whose wife Felicity Blunt is Cooper’s literary agent, hailed her as “an extraordinary person, a brilliant writer, nice person and naughty”.
Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth paid tribute, saying: “Whenever I think of Jilly Cooper, I think of one word, a three-letter word: fun, fun, fun, fun. That sums her up.” He added that the service was “a celebration of an amazing life”.
Cooper was best known for her risqué fiction about the British elite, including the Rutshire Chronicles series. Her novel Rivals (1988) was adapted for television in 2024, with cast members Alex Hassell, Victoria Smurfit, and Aidan Turner also attending the memorial.
Cooper was made a CBE in 2018 and a dame in 2024. Her children, Felix and Emily, said in a statement after her death: “Mum was the shining light in all of our lives.”
