A WELL-known author from Stroud says she is “incredibly bowled over” after being given a damehood in the New Year Honours list.
Author and journalist Jilly Cooper has been honoured for services to literature and to charity.
The 86-year-old, who lives in Bisley, is best known for her often erotic romance novels which capture the drama and excess of Britain’s affluent elite.
Her books have sold more than 11 million copies in the UK, according to her website.
She is best known for her Rutshire Chronicles, which focus on scandal and adultery in upper class society.
The series has seen a string of bestsellers with titles such as Riders, Rivals, Polo, Mount! and The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous.
Dame Jilly said in a statement: “I am absolutely and incredibly bowled over.
“I cannot believe I am a DBE, which in my case also stands for Delighted, Bewildered and Ecstatic!”.
She can also count the Prime Minister among her admirers, as Rishi Sunak confirmed to ITV's This Morning in May this year that he was a fan of the chronicles.
Her most recent work 'Tackle!' - which was published in early November of this year - features a fictional football club called Searston Rovers, which is inspired by Forest Green Rovers.
Meanwhile, a Disney+ series based on Rivals is currently in production, starring Alex Hassell, David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Emily Atack, and Danny Dyer.
Crews were spotted filming in Tetbury in April and August this year.
Born in Hornchurch, Essex in 1937, Dame Jilly grew up in Yorkshire and attended the private Godolphin School in Salisbury.
Her first book, How To Stay Married, was published in 1969, and in the 1970s she began turning her magazine stories into the romance novels along with a collection of short stories.
Eventually both Riders and Rivals, published in 1988, went to number one in the bestseller lists and the 1991 novel Polo became the highest-selling hardback novel of the year.
In 1998, Dame Jilly received a lifetime achievement award, which has also been won by JK Rowling and Terry Pratchett, at the British Book Awards.
In October 1999, she survived the Paddington rail crash.
She previously said of the experience that she believed she was going to die when her train carriage overturned but she escaped unhurt by climbing through a broken window.
She became an CBE for services to literature and charity during the 2018 New Year Honours.
When she received a previous honour from Buckingham Palace in 2004, she said she nearly fainted when she was told about the OBE for her services to literature.
She married publisher and childhood sweetheart Leo Cooper in 1961, and they were married for more than 50 years before his death in November 2013 at the age of 79.
They adopted two children, Emily and Felix.
She moved to Gloucestershire in 1982 and has stated that she writes on a typewriter called "Monica" in a summerhouse at the bottom of her garden while listening to classical music.
Dame Jilly has long supported animal charities, and in 1998 she founded the Animals In War Memorial Fund.
She has been listed as a patron for Compassion in World Farming, the Racehorse Sanctuary and Re-homing Centre and Secret World Wildlife Rescue.
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