Dame Jilly Cooper said King Charles III appeared to be ‘delighted’ to be back handing out honours today – and described receiving her award as ‘orgasmic’.
The prolific Riders and Rivals author, who has just brought out her 52nd book and was awarded a damehood for her services to literature and charity, met His Majesty at Windsor Castle.
The Mail revealed last week that the King had been given permission by doctors to conduct his first investiture since December following his diagnosis for cancer.
Dame Jilly, 87, said: ‘The King said congratulations and how pleased he was. He was very sweet. I told him how well I thought he was looking and ‘the country loves you so much’.
‘He seemed very pleased. He looked really, really well and was very jolly. He asked if I was going to Royal Ascot because he thinks he might have a good horse this year.’
Asked how it felt to receive the honour, the national treasure added: ‘Orgasmic! Just terribly exciting and nice. I never dreamed in a million years it would happen and it just has, so it’s lovely.’
Dame Jilly also said it was ‘lovely’ to see the King again after the pair previously met at His Majesty’s wedding.
Jilly Cooper is made a Dame Commander of the British Empire by King Charles III today, during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle which was the monarch’s first since last December
Dame Jilly Cooper (second left) with her daughter Emily Tarrant (left) and son Felix Cooper and his wife Edwina (right) after being made a Dame Commander of the British Empire today
Jilly Cooper is made a Dame Commander of the British Empire by King Charles III today
Dame Jilly Cooper, queen of the ‘bonkbuster’ novel, was honoured at Windsor Castle today for her services to literature and charity having recently published her 52nd book, ‘Tackle!’
Dame Jilly Cooper is a long-standing friend of Queen Camilla, pictured together in March 2018
Charles, 75, is still undergoing treatment for cancer but is starting to undertake more public engagements again.
Today’s investiture was his largest indoor ceremony since last year but was notably on a slightly smaller scale than usual.
He greeted each of the 52 recipients personally, rather than the 60 to 70 who are normally invested.
Dame Jilly said of her honour: ‘I’m just terribly, terribly honoured and excited. When the letter arrived I couldn’t believe it. I was alone in the house and my hands were shaking.
‘Felix my son came in and said ‘Mum, mum, what’s happened. Who’s died? And ‘oh my God, you’ve been made a dame!’ It was completely unexpected.’
Asked whether Queen Camilla, a not-so-secret fan of the ‘Queen of the bonkbuster’ might have had a word in her favour, she said: ‘Well, it would be lovely if she had.
‘I don’t know, but I adore her. She’s so lovely. She’s looking fantastic at the moment. She’s looking absolutely ravishing and she’s such fun. Wherever she goes, she makes people laugh.’
King Charles III makes Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend Justin Welby a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order at Windsor Castle this morning
Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend Justin Welby has been made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO). He is pictured at Windsor Castle this morning
Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend Justin Welby conducted the service for the Coronation at Westminster Abbey in May last year and had the task of crowning King Charles
The writer, who was accompanied by her children, Felix Cooper and Emily Tarrant, and daughter-in-law Edwina Cooper, said she was currently working on a book about Sparta.
She added: ‘I’ve discovered that it’s the only place in Ancient Greece where you couldn’t be killed for adultery. Everywhere else, if you were caught you were killed.
‘It was quite the worst thing you could do to a family, particularly for women. And they had wonderful macho men!
‘I haven’t quite worked it out yet but it will be modern day and there will be two very glamorous men who go to Sparta to do some filming and have a competition about who can commit the most adultery.’
She added: ‘I am so happy to be here. I love the Royal Family and think they work so hard on behalf of our country. I think they are wonderful. We should celebrate them.’
Dame Jilly also named The Common Years as her favourite piece of work she has written.
She is chiefly known for her Rutshire Chronicles, which focus on scandal and adultery in upper-class society and an aristocratic character called Rupert Campbell-Black.
King Charles III is driven from Windsor Castle to London today after the investiture ceremony
The series has seen a string of bestsellers with titles such as Riders, Rivals, Polo, Mount! and The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous along with her most recent work, Tackle!.
Tackle! was nominated in the best fiction category at this year’s British Book Awards in March, almost 50 years since Dame Jilly first began publishing fiction work in 1975.
Dame Jilly joked the secret to her longevity and her success was ‘luck’ and said she always wanted to write ‘happy books’.
She said: ‘The only thing I wanted to do in life was to cheer people up and people can get quite depressed, so I do like to tell lots of jokes.’
A Disney+ series based on her 1988 novel Rivals, featuring British actor Alex Hassell as Rupert, is currently in production.
The eight-part adaptation will also star David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Emily Atack and Danny Dyer, with first-look pictures released last week.
Dame Jilly said the series was ‘absolutely sensational’ and that the cast were ‘all fantastic’.
King Charles III makes MP Margaret Beckett a Dame Grand Cross at Windsor Castle today
Sanjay Bhandari, chair of anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out, is made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for servivces to sport by King Charles III at Windsor Castle today
The Dean of Westminster Abbey, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) at the ceremony at Windsor Castle today
The King also handed out honours to several senior figures involved with his Coronation, including the Most Reverend Justin Welby, who has become only the second serving Archbishop of Canterbury to receive a knighthood for services to the Crown.
He described last year’s Coronation as ‘deeply moving’ after being made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order for his key role in the event.
He also said His Majesty looked to be in ‘very good spirits indeed’ and was ‘looking very well’.
He admitted that he had hoped he would never have to be involved in a coronation because of his affinity with Queen Elizabeth II, who died in 2022.
Asked about its legacy, Mr Welby said: ‘What I hope is remembered is the solemnity and the authenticity with which the King said to the small boy at the beginning: ‘I come not to be served, but to serve in the battle of Jesus Christ.’
‘That summed up everything we were trying to say in the current nation.’
It was announced last Thursday that Dame Jilly’s fellow novelist, Dame Shirley Conran, who had received her honour while in hospital, had died aged 91.