Southwark Cathedral host service of thanksgiving for Dame Jilly Cooper.

The Very Rev’d Dr Mark Oakley, Dean of Southwark, welcomed Her Majesty The Queen, Dame Jilly’s family and friends - including other dignitaries and celebrities - to Southwark Cathedral on Friday 30 January to give thanks for the extraordinary life and work of Dame Jilly Cooper.

The invitation-only service was a celebration of Jilly’s Christian faith and featured readings from Scripture, Celtic poetry and extracts from Cooper’s works. A tribute was given by Dame Jilly’s literary agent and close friend Felicity Blunt. The congregation sang traditional English hymns and the Cathedral Choir sang anthems by Fauré, Rutter and Elgar. The prayers of intercession were specially written to reflect Dame Jilly’s love of nature, journalism, authorship, animals, family, friendship and music.

“Dame Jilly Cooper was a person with a champagne soul, of good vintage and sparkling for all its worth, a person who understood human privacies and intimacy, and who read the human heart, its needs and its extremities, carefully.” said Dean Mark. “Full of light, she lit up places and people, a collage of rare humane qualities, and a friend who brought comfort, compassion, and excitement.

Contributors to the service included:

• Dame Joanna Lumley
• Alex Hassell
• Bella Maclean
• Rupert Everett
• Alan Titchmarsh CBE
• Caitlin Moran
• Helen Fielding
• Sir Derek Jacobi
• Jilly’s granddaughter Scarlett Cooper
• Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles OBE
• Simon McMurtrie

The Cathedral’s bellringers composed a special peal for the event - Rutshire Surprise Maximus - which concluded the service.

In accordance with the wishes of Dame Jilly’s family, the proceeds of the collection will be split evenly between Southwark Cathedral and Greyhounds in Need - the charity of which Jilly was Patron and a passionate supporter for many years.

No photography or filming was permitted during the service. Official photographs will be released following the event.