Weekly writer recalls 'DRINKS WITH DAME JILLY'

Donna Fleming shares a memorable visit to the author's Cotswolds' home

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Dame Jilly Cooper was, according to Queen Camilla, a legend in her own lifetime, as well as wonderfully witty and a compassionate friend. Her Majesty led the tributes to the acclaimed British writer, often dubbed the "Queen of the bonkbusters", who died aged 88, following a fall last week.

Dame Jilly wrote 48 books in 55 years, 26 of them nonfiction, but she was best known for her Rutshire Chronicles novels, set in a fictional part of the Cotswolds and featuring devilishly handsome men, strikingly beautiful women, plus much-loved horses and dogs.

The first book in the series,