The Queen was welcomed by the Dean of Southwark, the Very Rev Mark Oakley outside the cathedral and stopped to look at a picture of Dame Jilly, who loved animals, with a dog displayed on an easel by the door.
At the service, the dean said: “Dame Jilly Cooper was a person with a champagne soul, of good vintage and sparkling for all its worth.”
“Full of light, she lit up places and people, a collage of rare humane qualities, and a friend who brought comfort, compassion, and excitement,” he added.
Dame Jilly’s most successful works were The Rutshire Chronicles, beginning with Riders in 1985, which portrayed the scandals, sex lives and social circles of the wealthy horse-loving country set.
Follow-up Rivals was published in 1988 and reached a new generation of fans in 2024 when it was adapted into a hit Disney+ TV series. Camilla visited the cast and crew last month during filming for the show’s second season.
According to the order of service, Rivals stars Alex Hassell and Bella Maclean read an extract from the novel, while Dame Joanna Lumley read an extract from diary anthology the Common Years.
Dame Jilly sold more than 11 million books in the UK alone.