couple had known each other since 1945 (when Jilly Sallitt was about eight), although they did not marry until she was 24 and he was 27. The couple was unable to have children naturally, so adopted two children. They have five grandchildren. The Coopers' marriage was greatly disrupted in 1990 when publisher Sarah Johnson revealed she and Leo had had an affair for several years, though Jilly and Leo eventually got back together. In the 1980s the couple left Putney, southwest London, for The Chantry, an old manor house in Gloucestershire. Jilly Cooper was a passenger in one of the derailed carriages in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash of 1999, in which 31 people died, and crawled through a window to escape. She later spoke of feeling that her "number was up" and of being absurdly concerned, due to shock, about a manuscript she had been carrying. Leo Cooper was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2002. He died on 29 November 2013 at the age of 79. In 2010, Cooper suffered a minor stroke. Cooper has stated that she is a football fan, and supported Leeds United when she lived in Yorkshire. She is also a supporter of the Conservative Party. Awards and honours Cooper was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2004 Birthday Honours for services to literature and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to literature and charity. On 13 November 2009 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Gloucestershire at a ceremony in Gloucester Cathedral. Film and TV productions In 1971, Cooper created the comedy series It's Awfully Bad For Your Eyes, Darling, which featured Joanna Lumley, and ran for one series. Television adaptations of Cooper's novels are relatively few but have been accepted by national network ITV. Apart from Octavia, other productions include the TV mini-series The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, starring Hugh Bonneville, produced by Sarah Lawson, and Riders. List of works Non-fiction How to Stay Married (1969) How to Survive from Nine to Five (1970) Jolly Super (1971) Men and Super Men (1972) Jolly Super Too (1973) Women and Super Women (1974) Jolly Superlative (1975) Supermen and Superwomen (1976) Work and Wedlock (1977) Superjilly (1977) The British in Love (1979) Class: A View from Middle England (1979) Supercooper (1980) Violets and