JILLY COOPER, THE best-selling British author who was best known for her Riders, Rivals and Polo novels, has died at the age of 88.

In a statement, her children Felix and Emily confirmed that she died after a fall on Sunday morning.

“Mum was the shining light in all of our lives,” they said. 

“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.”

Cooper was best known for her ‘bonkbuster’ romance novels The Rutshire Chronicles, which were mostly set around equestrians in the English countryside. The first in the series, Riders, was published in 1985.

There are 11 books in the series, the last of which was published in 2023. 

The second novel of the series, Rivals was recently adapted into a television series on Disney+. 

Britain’s Queen Camilla has paid tribute to Cooper, describing her as a “legend” and a “wonderfully witty and compassionate friend to me and so many”.

“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,” she said.

“I join my husband the King in sending our thoughts and sympathies to all her family. And may her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs.”

Cooper’s agent Felicity Blunt said she “defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over fifty years ago”. 

“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.”

She added: “Emotionally intelligent, fantastically generous, sharply observant and utter fun Jilly Cooper will be deeply missed by all at Curtis Brown and on the set of Rivals.

“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.”