Queen Camilla Leads Celebrity-Packed Tribute to ‘Rivals’ Author Jilly Cooper

Queen Camilla attended a funeral service for her long-time friend, Dame Jilly Cooper, at London’s Southwark Cathedral, where the iconic “bonkbuster” author was remembered by friends, family, and celebrities. Dame Jilly Cooper died unexpectedly in October 2025 after sustaining a fall, a few weeks after hosting an event with Queen Camilla at the Queen’s Reading Room Festival.

“I was so saddened to learn of Dame Jilly’s death,” Queen Camilla wrote in October following the author’s unexpected passing. “Very few writers get to be a legend in their own lifetime but Jilly was one, creating a whole new genre of literature and making it her own through a career that spanned over five decades.” Speaking of their close, personal friendship, the Queen wrote, “In person she was a wonderfully witty and compassionate friend to me and so many.”

The Dean of Southwark led the service, where he described the late novelist’s ebullient nature, saying, "Dame Jilly Cooper was a person with a champagne soul, of good vintage and sparkling for all its worth." Several British celebrities joined the Queen, alongside Cooper’s friends and family, to pay respects to the iconic author. Most notable was the cast of her hit Disney+ show, Rivals. Cast members included David Tennant, Victoria Smurfit, Alex Hassell, Danny Dyer, and Katherine Parkinson. Aiden Turner and Bella McClean, who play Declan and Taggie O’Hara in the hit series, read an excerpt from the book during the service.

Jilly Cooper’s novels and series were known for their wicked, witty escapism. The books were some of the earliest unapologetically racy novels to enter the mainstream, earning Cooper the title of “Queen of the Bonkbuster.” In her heartfelt message from October, the Queen sent her sympathies to Cooper’s family, saying “may her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs.”