British author Jilly Cooper, famous for novels of sex and snobbery, 88

LONDON — Jilly Cooper, the British author of novels such as Rivals and Riders whose 1980s bestsellers were a blend of sex, satire, and class-based snobbery, has died aged 88, her agent said in a statement on Monday.

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A NEW generation discovered Jilly Cooper's books after Rivals was made into a series by Disney+ in 2024

Ms. Cooper, a longstanding friend of Britain’s Queen Camilla, sold 11 million copies of her books in Britain alone.

From the mid-1980s, her raunchy novels depicting the romantic adventures of an upper-class set of characters in the fictional county of Rut-shire, modelled on Gloucestershire where she and Camilla both lived, gained huge commercial success.

Camilla called Ms. Cooper, a lifelong dog-lover who was a guest at her 2005 marriage to King Charles, a “wonderfully witty and compassionate friend,” in a statement issued by Buckingham Palace.

“Very few writers get to be a legend in their own lifetime but Jilly was one, creating a whole new genre of literature,” Camilla said. “May her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs.”

Last year,