Bestselling author and journalist Jilly Cooper has been made a dame in the New Year Honours list for services to literature and charity. The 86-year-old, known for her Rutshire Chronicles series, said she was “absolutely and incredibly bowled over” by the honour.
Cooper, whose fans include Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, described her feelings as “delighted, bewildered and ecstatic”. Her novels, which focus on scandal and adultery in upper-class society, have sold more than 11 million copies in the UK.
Her debut novel in the series, Riders (1985), was named in the BBC’s list of 100 important English language novels in the love, sex and romance category. Both Riders and Rivals (1988) reached number one in the bestseller lists, and Polo (1991) became the highest-selling hardback novel of its year.
Cooper has also been a patron of animal charities and spearheaded the Animals In War Memorial Fund in 1998, which led to a memorial being unveiled in Park Lane, London, in 2004. A Disney+ adaptation of Rivals is currently in production.
