Queen Camilla extends condolences from her and ‘The King’ on Jilly Cooper’s passing

Queen Camilla shared her heartfelt condolences for the family of Dame Jilly Cooper, on the renowned author and journalist’s passing at the age of 88.

Her message was shared via the stories of the royal family’s official Instagram account.

The Queen paid a personal tribute to the English personality and signed off with “Camilla R.”

“I was so saddened to learn of Dame Jilly’s death last night,” the statement began. “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.”

Describing the Rutshire Chronicles author as “wonderfully witty and compassionate friend to me and so many”, the Queen Consort further hailed her participation at the Queen’s Reading Room Festival last month, “where she was, as ever, a star of the show.”

“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,” Camilla concluded the message, with a nod to the author’s romantic literary style.

Jilly Cooper’s death was announced by her family on October 5, as they shared that the “unexpected death has come as a complete shock”. The English writer was incredibly close with Queen Camilla and ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles, whom she still considered a friend, while she received her damehood from King Charles in 2023.