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Author Dame Jilly Cooper reportedly spoke to her deceased husband, Leo Cooper, even after the latter's death. Dame Cooper passed away on October 5, 2025, at the age of 88.
On the day of her passing, Jilly Cooper's two children announced the news in an official statement. It 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."
Jilly Cooper was married to publisher Leo Cooper for 53 years between 1961 and 2013, when the latter passed away due to Parkinson's disease. Leo Cooper worked for multiple renowned publishing houses throughout his life. He also established an eponymous publishing house.
In 2001, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and succumbed to it in 2013 at the couple's home in Gloucestershire. In a 2023 interview with The Times, Cooper mentioned that she has been speaking to Leo Cooper even after his death.
"I ask him how he is, how God is getting on. If any of our friends arrive in heaven, I expect him to be there waiting with an enormous glass of red wine or a whisky. He was such a hospitable man," Cooper said.
Leo and Jilly shared two adopted children, Felix, 55, and Emily, 52.
When Jilly Cooper opened up about her husband Leo Cooper's health struggles with Parkinson's disease
In her aforementioned interview with The Times in 2023, Jilly Cooper spoke about her husband Leo Cooper's decade-long struggle with Parkinson's disease. The writer mentioned it was a "foul disease" Cooper suffered from, and said:
"It sounds silly this, but because he had Parkinson's, it's such a shocker. You almost get to the place where you think, 'Please God, take him. ' Then you feel terribly guilty. It's not fair. I've not cried for ages, and I didn't. Parkinson's is such a foul disease. It's not fair for anyone to suffer that much. And then you'd feel guilty because it was the wrong attitude."
Jilly Cooper first met her husband at a children's party when she was around 13-14 years old. The author recalled in an interview on the How to Fail podcast that Leo Cooper threw a strawberry jelly at her then-boyfriend, Andrew, at the party. Later, Leo approached her and expressed his romantic feelings.
"We went to a dance, and he wrote to me after randomly and he said: 'Oh I so liked meeting you. I nearly tried to kiss you in the taxi going home when Andrew wasn't there.' I was so shocked, I thought that was very naughty," Cooper said on the podcast.
After the incident, Cooper lost touch with her future husband. However, the couple reconnected after Leo's first marriage ended. Leo asked Jilly to marry him on their second date, and she agreed. The two tied the knot in 1961. However, the two went through some ups and downs in their marriage, as revealed by Cooper herself.
In 1990, Leo Cooper reportedly began an affair with another publisher, Sarah Johnson. Speaking about the affair to The Times in 2023, Jilly Cooper said that she "forgave him" for the affair, but "adultery hurts very much when it happens." The couple reportedly separated during Leo's affair, but reconnected later.
Jilly Cooper is best known for her books Riders, Polo, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, and How To Stay Married. One of her books, Rivals (1988), was adapted into a Disney+ series in 2024.
