Dame Jilly Cooper died in hospital after fall at home, inquest told

Dame Jilly Cooper died in hospital after sustaining a fatal head injury during a fall at her Gloucestershire home, an inquest has heard.

The writer – known for her “bonkbusters” including Riders, Rivals and Polo – is believed to have fallen down stairs at the property in Bisley, near Stroud, on October 4.

She was found with catastrophic head injuries at about 5pm that day and taken by paramedics to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, but her condition deteriorated.

Gloucestershire Coroners’ Court heard Dame Jilly died in hospital, with her family present, at 8.30am on October 5.

Katy Skerrett, senior coroner for Gloucestershire, reached a conclusion of accidental death and recorded that Dame Jilly died as a result of a traumatic subdural haematoma.

The coroner said: “The circumstances surrounding her tragic death were she had suffered an unwitnessed fall at her home address on October 4. She fell, perhaps down some stairs, sustaining a significant head injury.

“There were no suspicious circumstances surrounding her fall. She passed away later, on October 5, with family present.

“This is a case of accidental death, the accident being the unwitnessed fall by Dame Cooper at Dame Cooper’s address, triggering the tragic events that thereafter followed.

“May this office extend their sincere condolences to Dame Cooper’s family.”

Dame Jilly was known for her steamy fiction focusing on scandal and adultery in upper class society.

Her hit titles also include Mount! and The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, along with her most recent work Tackle!.

Her work Rivals was recently adapted as a hit television series by Disney+ starring David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Danny Dyer and Katherine Parkinson.

The inquest on Tuesday afternoon consisted of written statements read by the coroner.

It heard Dame Jilly’s daughter Emily Tarrant had spoken to coroner’s officer Tony Jones to confirm her mother’s full name, and that she had been born in Hornchurch, Essex, in February 1937.

Dame Jilly was widowed and an author, the hearing was told.

Ms Skerrett said it was believed Dame Jilly had fallen down a flight of stairs as there was a “trail of blood” in that area of her home.

“She was initially alert, but referring to a severe headache,” the coroner said.

An urgent CT scan revealed that she had sustained a skull fracture.

“The medical opinion was that this head injury was unfortunately catastrophic and therefore likely a terminal event,” Ms Skerrett added.

“She was made comfortable, her condition sadly thereafter deteriorated and she passed away in the emergency department with family present.”

South Western Ambulance Service received a call to attend Dame Jilly’s home at 5.35pm on October 4, with paramedics arriving there at 5.56pm.

“The patient was able to speak to crew on arrival,” Ms Skerrett read.

“She had no direct recollection of events prior. She was unsure how she had fallen. She had a vague recollection of falling down.”

Dr William Nattress, of Frithwood Surgery, said he had been Dame Jilly’s GP for around 14 years and confirmed she had sustained two falls previously, in 2018 and September 2024.

“Despite slowing mobility, she was managing well and remained as bright and engaging as ever,” Ms Skerrett read.

Dame Jilly grew up in Yorkshire and attended the private Godolphin School in Salisbury before becoming a reporter on The Middlesex Independent when she was 20, later moving to book publishing.

Her work has been adapted at various points, including an ITV series of The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous with Coronation Street star Stephen Billington and Downton Abbey actor Hugh Bonneville, while Marcus Gilbert starred in a Riders series during the 1990s.

She won the inaugural Comedy Women In Print lifetime achievement award in 2019 and was made a dame for her services to literature and charity in 2024.

Dame Jilly was a long-standing friend of the Queen, and based her fictional seducer and showjumping lothario Rupert Campbell-Black partly on her ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles.

In a statement issued by Buckingham Palace after Dame Jilly’s death, Camilla described her as a “legend”.

“In person she was a wonderfully witty and compassionate friend to me and so many – and it was a particular pleasure to see her just a few weeks ago at my Queen’s Reading Room Festival where she was, as ever, a star of the show,” 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.”

Dame Jilly’s children Felix Cooper and Ms Tarrant also paid tribute to her.

They said: “Mum was the shining light in all of our lives. 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.”

Dame Jilly’s first novel in the Rutshire series, Riders, was published in 1985.

It made the BBC list of 100 important English language novels in the love, sex and romance selection alongside Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice.

Her agent Felicity Blunt also paid tribute at the time her death was announced, saying Dame Jilly had “defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over 50 years ago”.

“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.

A new edition of Dame Jilly’s book, How To Survive Christmas – which was first published in 1986, will be released by Transworld on November 13.

Her agent previously confirmed that her funeral would be private, in line with her wishes.

A public service of thanksgiving will be held at Southwark Cathedral at a later date.