Dame Jilly Cooper died from a head harm after falling at her residence in Gloucestershire, an inquest has discovered.
Katy Skerrett, senior coroner for Gloucestershire, mentioned the 88-year-old writer “fell, perhaps down some stairs, sustaining a significant head injury”.
Although the autumn was unwitnessed, forensic proof within the space surrounding the steps recommended that it was the place the autumn occurred.
South Western Ambulance Service had been known as at 5.35pm on 4 October and arrived at Dame Jilly’s residence at 5.56pm, they instructed the inquiry in an announcement.
Dame Jilly was initially alert and talking with the crew on arrival. She didn’t recall the precise particulars of the autumn, with solely a “vague recollection of falling down”, however she spoke of getting a extreme headache.
She was transferred to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, the place an pressing CT scan discovered she had sustained a cranium fracture, decided more likely to be a terminal occasion.
“The medical opinion was that this head injury was unfortunately catastrophic,” mentioned Ms Skerrett. “She was made comfortable, her condition sadly thereafter deteriorated, and she passed away in the emergency department with family”.
Dame Jilly’s long-standing GP instructed the inquest that she had fallen twice beforehand, in 2018 and in September 2024.
She died in hospital at 8.30am on 5 October. Her dying was discovered to be unintended, with Ms Skerrett saying “there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding her fall”.
Ms Skerrett prolonged the “sincere condolences” of the coroner’s workplace to Dame Jilly’s household.
In an announcement after her dying, her youngsters Emily Tarrant and Felix Cooper paid tribute to their mum, saying that “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,” they added.
The writer’s many followers included former prime minister Rishi Sunak, who mentioned her books provided “escapism”. She was a long-standing good friend of Queen Camilla.
Considered one of Dame Jilly’s most-loved characters – the showjumping womaniser Rupert Campbell-Black – was partly primarily based on the Queen’s ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles.
He was not too long ago portrayed by actor Alex Hassell within the 2024 Disney+ adaptation of her novel Rivals.
Picture:
Aidan Turner, who performed the character Declan O’Hara in Rivals, with Dame Jilly Cooper
Pic: PA
In an announcement issued by Buckingham Palace after Dame Jilly’s dying, Camilla mentioned: “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.”
A brand new version of Dame Jilly’s e-book, How To Survive Christmas, which was first printed in 1986, might be launched on 13 November.
Her funeral might be held in personal, consistent with her needs, however a public service of thanksgiving might be held at Southwark Cathedral at a later date, her agent has mentioned.
