Rivals stars 'broken-hearted' as they pay tribute to author Jilly Cooper

Rivals author Dame Jilly Cooper has diedwith her children sharing how herdeath on October 5, after a fall, came as a "complete shock".

Her children, Felix and Emily, released a statement saying: "Mum was the shining light in all of our lives. Her love for all of her family and friends knew no bounds.

"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 author is best known for The Rutshire Chronicles, a series which includes Riders, Rivals and Polo.

Happy Prince, the TV company behind the popular Rivals series, took to Instagram to pay tribute to the writer.

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They said: "We are broken hearted. Jilly was is and always will be one of the world’s greatest storytellers and it has been the most incredible honour to have been able to work with her to adapt her incredible novels for television.

"Crawling around on her sitting room floor with storylines on pieces of paper, sitting up late at her kitchen table holding hands with love and our tummies with laughter, receiving scoldings and heaps of wisdom in equal measure, watching her eyes sparkling as she sat behind the monitor on set watching Rutshire brought to life - every moment spent with Jilly Cooper was b***** marvellous.

"We have been so lucky to be able to call her our friend - and know that her legacy will endure in her writing, her television and the encouragement to have fun that she gave us all."

Many of the stars of the series commented on the post, including Danny Dyer, who plays Freddie Jones, who left two love heart emojis.

Gary Lamont, who plays Charles Fairburn, commented: "There is nothing like a Dame. A privilege to have been in her orbit."

Lisa McGrillis, who stars as Valerie Jones, added: "Darling Jilly, what an honour to know her."

Victoria Smurfit, who plays Maud O'Hara, shared: "Devastating- our Queen is in the sky."

Annabel Scholey, known for playing Beattie Johnson, concluded: "What an incredible force she was. I feel very lucky to have crossed paths with her."

Rivals is available to watch on Disney+