This summer's Royal Ascot was unforgettable for Felicity Blunt. The literary agent and her husband, The Devil Wears Prada star Stanley Tucci, were invited to ride in one of the horse-drawn carriages in the royal procession, before joining the King and the Queen in the Royal Box.
"I felt like a competition winner," says Felicity, 45, whose sister Emily, 43, starred alongside Stanley, 65, in The Devil Wears Prada, and introduced her to her now husband of 14 years.
© Samir Hussein/WireImageThe day was tinged with grief, she says, because there was a person missing: the author Dame Jilly Cooper, whom Felicity had represented during the last decade of her life, and who had been close to the Queen since the Eighties. When Jilly died in October last year, Camilla described her as a "wonderfully witty and compassionate friend".
Felicity says: "I felt so sad I couldn't call Jilly about it, both before and after, because she would have been so excited. I felt very, very lucky, and I knew it wouldn't have happened without Jilly."
Remembering Jilly Cooper
Felicity, who is participating in an event called 'Celebrating Jilly Cooper' at this weekend's Cheltenham Literature Festival, describes herself as a "very enthusiastic fan girl" of Jilly’s. She says that before her death she always delighted in a call from an unknown number. "It would either be my husband or Jilly Cooper," she says. "Either one I would always be ecstatic to hear from."
© BAFTA via Getty ImagesTogether with showrunner Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Felicity was instrumental in bringing Jilly's Rivals series – set in the scandalous world of warring TV companies in the Eighties – to the screen. The resulting hit Disney+ show, which stars Aidan Turner and Emily Atack, was something that Jilly described as "orgasmic". The author was thrilled to see all of her beloved characters come to life, says Emily, who also serves as an executive producer on the show.
"She was so proud of Alex Hassell," Emily adds of the actor who plays the lothario Rupert Campbell-Black – a character said to have been based on the Queen's first husband, Andrew Parker Bowles. "She started to call him 'my boy' by the end."
The future of Rivals
The cast are reported to have created a joyful atmosphere. Would Stanley ever join them on set? "That's probably what would attract my husband, because not all sets are joyful," she replies.
Felicity is stepmother to Stanley’s three children from his first marriage, and they have a son and a daughter together. She says of her husband: "I think he's curious. For him, it would be great; we'd get to work together and he wouldn't have to get on a plane. But then we'd have to behave like an unmarried couple – we'd have to professionalise our relationship. That might be impossible."
© Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TheHer sister Emily is a less likely prospect. "No, I think she's such a fan girl! She just wants to watch the episodes early, which she's not allowed to do. She loves it, her and her husband, John [Krasinski, an actor]."
Those hoping to read more of Jilly's prose will have to wait. Felicity says "it's too soon" to do anything with the author’s as-yet unpublished diaries. However, there is happier news for fans of the show, which has been renewed for a third season.
"My feeling is Jilly Cooper is the new Marvel universe," she laughs. "Our intention is just to run and run."
Felicity Blunt appears in Celebrating Jilly Cooper at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Sunday 18 October; cheltenhamfestivals.org/events/celebrating-jilly-cooper
Season two of Rivals will return with new episodes on 11 November on Disney+
