Queen Camilla pauses for Dame Jilly's portrait not ex Andrew

Queen Camilla was welcomed by Very Rev Dr Mark Oakley, Dean of Southwark, on Friday where she paused to view a portrait of Dame Jilly displayed outside the cathedral. 

Inside the cathedral, the guest list read like a roll call of British culture. 

Clare Balding, Aidan Turner and Joanna Lumley were among those paying tribute, while stars of the hit adaptation Rivals turned out in force, including Bella Maclean, Alex Hassell, David Tennant, Victoria Smurfit, Danny Dyer and Katherine Parkinson.

Andrew Parker Bowles, Camilla’s former husband long rumoured to have inspired Cooper’s infamous Rupert Campbell Black attended alongside their son Tom. 

Alex Hassell, who plays the notorious character on screen, arrived with his wife, actress Emma King.

Also present were Felicity Blunt, Dame Jilly’s literary agent, and her husband Stanley Tucci, who spoke warmly about the author’s legacy.

"She changed so many people’s lives for the better with her books, my wife being one of them," Tucci said.

Blunt’s tribute was perfectly on brand, a tote bag proudly declaring “I love Jilly Cooper."

The service was less about mourning and more about celebration of a woman whose stories left an indelible mark on British culture. 

And at its heart stood Queen Camilla, paying tribute not just as a royal, but as a devoted reader saying farewell to a literary legend.