Dame Jilly Cooper died from a head injury after a fall at her Gloucestershire home. Photo / Getty Images
Dame Jilly Cooper suffered a fatal head injury during a fall at her home in Gloucestershire, UK, an inquest has heard.
The writer – known for her “bonkbuster” novels including Riders, Rivals and Polo – was found by family at her home in Bisley on October 4.
In a statement, South Western Ambulance Service confirmed it had been called at 5.35pm that day and arrived at Cooper’s home at 5.56pm.
Katy Skerrett, senior coroner for Gloucestershire, said: “The patient was able to speak to crew on arrival.
“She had no direct recollection of events prior. She was unsure how she had fallen. She had a vague recollection of falling down.”
The inquest, consisting of written statements read by the coroner, heard Cooper’s daughter Emily Tarrant confirmed her identity to the court in a phone call.
Skerrett then said Cooper, 88, was transferred to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, where she was “initially alert but referring to a severe headache”.
It was believed Cooper had fallen down a flight of stairs “as there was a trail of blood” in that area of her home.
An urgent CT scan revealed she had sustained a skull fracture.
Dr William Nattrass, Cooper’s GP for around 14 years, said in a statement that 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,” Skerrett read. However, this specific head injury was “unfortunately catastrophic and therefore likely a terminal event”.
“She was made comfortable, her condition sadly thereafter deteriorated and she passed away in the emergency department with family present” at 8.30am the next day.
The coroner reached a conclusion of accidental death and said Cooper died as a result of a traumatic subdural haematoma.
The romance novelist, who was awarded a damehood for services to literature last year, was known for her “wicked humour” and raunchy portrayals of the British upper classes.
The Queen led tributes following her death, saying she was “so saddened” to learn of her “compassionate friend’s” death.
“Hailing Dame Jilly as “a legend”, she added that 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”.
In a statement, her family announced that she died from a fall, saying it came as a “complete shock”.
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.”
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.”
Cooper grew up in Yorkshire and attended the private Godolphin School in Salisbury.
Her father was a brigadier and her family moved to London in the 1950s where she became a reporter on The Middlesex Independent when she was 20.
She has said she moved to public relations and was sacked from 22 jobs before ending up in 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.
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