Jilly Cooper's own wild love life - affairs to kissing Sean Connery while married

Dame Jilly Copper was famous for her raunchy novels, but she alsolived a wild romantic life of her own. The beloved authorhas died aged 88and was known for her romance books.

Her first novel was published in 1975, while her most famous was the Rutshire Chronicles. She shot to fame in the 80s with bestsellers Riders and Rivals and continued to work for decades since.

Jilly worked as a journalist before becoming an author, with her big break coming when the editor of The Sunday Times Magazine, Godfrey Smith, asked her to write about her experiences at a dinner party.

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She had her own column in which she wrote about the trials and tribulations of sex, marriage, and housework. Jilly had married military book publisher Leo Cooper at the age of 24 in 1961.

The pair knew each other as children and reunited in their twenties. Unable to have their own children, they adopted two. Sadly, Jilly experienced the fallout from infidelity first-hand when their marriage was rocked after Leo had an affair with publisher Sarah Johnson.

The affair had lasted years and Sarah claimed she was driven to confess after seeing Jilly continuously 'boast' about her perfect relationship. In a bid to start afresh, Jilly and Leo rekindled their romance and moved from London to the Gloucestershire countryside in the '80s.

They were married until Leo died in 2013. However, during their marriage Jilly also strayed away as she admitted to kissing James Bond's Sean Connery while they were both married.

“Sean Connery was gorgeous. I necked him,” she told The Mail on Sunday. “We lived in Fulham and Sean and his lovely wife Diane were in Putney, and they came for dinner. I was in the kitchen, pretending to cook, and he came in and took me in his arms and kissed me,” she said.

Jilly revealed that Sean called her the next day as they had a "long chat". Sean told her he loved Diane, while Jilly said she loved Leo. The James Bond icon was married to Diane Cilento for 12 years and they welcomed a son before they split in 1974.

Following the release of her hit racy novel Riders, Jilly spilled on the "fun" of the 1980s. “Masses of sex and massive drinking. They were fun. There was no awful social media, no bullying. Much more freedom,” she said.

Jilly's death was announced by her family as her children Felix and Emily 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 died on Sunday following a fall.

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