In central London, a gathering of Rivals stars, along with Dame Jilly Cooper’s family and friends, including Queen Camilla, came together to honor the ‘extraordinary’ and ‘mischievous’ life of the beloved author during a memorial service.

On Friday morning, a tribute to the late author was held at the Anglican Southwark Cathedral, located near London Bridge, commemorating her after her untimely passing last year.

At the age of 88, Dame Jilly Cooper passed away unexpectedly in October due to complications from a fall. Her illustrious and provocative literary career had recently experienced a resurgence.

Among those paying their respects were numerous stars from Rivals, such as Danny Dyer, Alex Hassell, David Tennant, Bella Maclean, and Katherine Parkinson. Filming for the second season of the show is currently underway, with its release anticipated later this year.

Queen Camilla was warmly received by the Very Rev Dr. Mark Oakley, Dean of Southwark, and she was seen smiling at a photograph of her dear friend displayed outside the venue.

In attendance was Camilla’s former husband, Andrew Parker-Bowles, who served as the muse for the “24-carat cad” character Rupert Campbell-Black in Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles novels, including Rivals.

Dame Jilly’s literary agent Felicity Blunt, sister of Emily, looked sombre as she walked into the cathedral with her actor husband Stanley Tucci while carrying a tote bag that said ‘I love Jilly Cooper’ on it.

Tucci paid tribute to the late author and told media outside: ‘She lived an incredible life. She also changed the lives of so many people for the better with her books, my wife being one of them. She was an extraordinary person, a brilliant writer, nice person and naughty.’

Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth has paid tribute to the ‘fabulous’ and ‘amazing’ Dame Jilly Cooper.

‘I saw her a few weeks before she died. We sat in the back of the bus, we held hands, we talked about sex. She was fabulous’, he said.

Queen Camilla speaks with Dean of Southwark Mark Oakley ahead of a service of thanksgiving for her great friend Dame Jilly Cooper

Queen Camilla’s ex-husband Andrew Parker-Bowles, who was Dame Jilly’s inspiration for her ’24-carat cad’ character of Rupert Campbell-Black in her Rutshire Chronicles novels, including Rivals, was in the congregation. His son Tom Parker-Bowles was beside him

Rivals stars Alex Hassell, who plays Rupert Campbell-Black, arrived with Bella Maclean

Aidan Turner and Caitlin FitzGerald also came to remember Dame Jilly’s extraordinary life

Danny Dyer, whose role in Rivals has been lauded, also joined the star-studded congregation

Actor, author and foodie Stanley Tucci and his Felicity Blunt were there. Felicity was Dame Jilly’s literary agent. Tucci said: ‘She was an extraordinary person, a brilliant writer, nice person and naughty’

David and Georgia Tennant held hands as they entered the church

Joanna Lumley smiled and chatted as she came to remember and celebrate her friend

Dame Jilly Cooper died tragically after a fall last year

He went on: ‘Whenever I think of Jilly Cooper, I think of one word, a three letter word, fun, fun, fun, fun.

‘That sums her up.

‘This is, of course, terribly sad, but also it’s a celebration of an amazing life, an amazing writer, an amazing human being.

‘Champagne is being popped in heaven today and I’m honoured and delighted to be here amongst so many celebrating an amazing writer.’

He continued: ‘I first met her nearly 60 years ago. We were both young authors. We sat at the back of a bus. I held her hand, and she decided to talk to me about sex.

‘I saw her a few weeks before she died. We sat in the back of the bus, we held hands, we talked about sex. She was fabulous.’

Arriving for the service, Alan Titchmarsh said he was friends with Dame Jilly for 40 years and described her as ‘hugely genuine’.

He joked: ‘Her only failing was her appalling hand drawing.’

Asked what it meant to be there at the service, Titchmarsh said: ‘It’s a way of saying thank you really. Such a loss of a great friend.’

The author was known for her steamy fiction novels which focused on scandal and adultery in upper class society, with titles including Riders, Rivals and Polo, part of The Rutshire Chronicles.

Rivals, set in the 1980s against the backdrop of the Cotswolds countryside, was recently adapted into the award-winning eponymous Disney+ TV series starring David Tennant, Alex Hassell, Emily Atack and Danny Dyer.

Dame Jilly’s fictional seducer and showjumper Rupert Campbell-Black, who appears in The Rutshire Chronicles, is said to be partly based on the Queen’s ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles.

Camilla previously described the author as a ‘wonderfully witty and compassionate friend’ and a writing ‘legend’.

A number of Dame Jilly’s novels were adapted for TV, including an ITV series of The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous with Coronation Street star Stephen Billington and Downton Abbey actor Hugh Bonneville, and a Riders series starring Marcus Gilbert during the 1990s.

She was also behind the 1970s sitcom It’s Awfully Bad For Your Eyes, which starred Dame Joanna Lumley.

Dame Jilly wrote the hit novel Mount! and published her most recent work Tackle! in 2023, which she wrote on her trusty manual typewriter named Monica.

Actor Rupert Everett looked dapper as he arrived for the service

Rivals actor Victoria Smurfit joined the large cast at the cathedral

Actor Samuel West and gardener Alan Titchmarsh came to remember Dame Jilly

Derek Jacobi (right) and Richard Clifford arrive for a service of thanksgiving

Gyles Brandreth smiled as he walked in to remember his friend

The author was made a CBE for services to literature and charity during the 2018 New Year Honours, and in 2024 was made a dame, later describing receiving the honour from the King as ‘orgasmic’.

She is survived by her two children, Felix and Emily.

Dame Jilly died from a head injury after falling down a flight of stairs at her Cotswolds home, her inquestheard.

The 88-year-old writer was found by family at her Grade II listed home in Bisley, Gloucestershire, at around 5pm on October 4.

They called for an ambulance and upon arrival, paramedics found Dame Jilly alert and referring to a ‘severe headache’.

She had no memory of the events prior, but had a ‘vague recollection’ of falling down, the inquest heard.

Dame Jilly’s daughter, Emily Tarrant, believed her mother had fallen down the stairs as a ‘trail of blood’ was found in that area of her home where she lived after the death of her husband Leo in 2013.

She was rushed to hospital where a CT scan revealed she had suffered a ‘catastrophic’ skull fracture.

Doctors heartbreakingly informed her family it was ‘likely a terminal event’ and she was made comfortable.

The author’s condition deteriorated overnight and she died the following morning in hospital surrounded by loved ones.

She had sustained two falls previously in 2018 and September 2024.