Joan Collins remembered her late sister Jackie with a touching childhood photograph to mark what would have been the bestselling author's 89th birthday on October 4.
The actress shared a black-and-white picture of the pair standing together outdoors, long before their careers took them from London to Hollywood.
"Happy heavenly #birthday to my dearest #sister @jackiecollins - always in my heart," Joan wrote, adding heart and feather emojis.
© InstagramThe photograph captured the sisters posing in front of large palm leaves, with a stone building behind them. Younger sister Jackie wore a collared dress with a bow in her hair, while Joan smiled beside her in a light-coloured top and shorts.
Fans share their memories of Jackie
Joan's followers responded with messages of support, while one shared a personal recollection of meeting Jackie at a charity event. The fan explained that she had nervously approached the novelist to say hello and apologised for interrupting her.
According to the commenter, Jackie replied: "In that dress darling you can disturb me anytime."
"She made me feel like a million dollars & remember her kind words on any down days I may have," the follower added, describing Jackie as kind and generous.
© Amanda EdwardsAnother wrote: "Beautiful photos. Sending all my love and virtual hugs to you today!" Elizabeth Hurley was also among those who liked the post.
What Joan has said about missing her sister
Joan has previously spoken about how much she misses the ordinary conversations she shared with Jackie, who died from breast cancer on September 19, 2015, aged 77.
Appearing on Loose Women in September 2020, ahead of the fifth anniversary of her sister's death, Joan explained that living in different countries had not stopped them keeping in touch.
With Jackie in Los Angeles and Joan often in London, telephone calls helped bridge the distance. Before that, they had written letters to one another.
"Today, I think, 'Oh my God, that I must tell Jackie'. And of course, I can't tell Jackie," Joan said.
© Getty ImagesRemembering her younger sister's humour and quick wit, she also described her as "a perfect sister".
When their careers brought them together
The sisters found success in different fields, but their professional lives also overlapped. Joan starred in the film adaptations of Jackie's novels The Stud and The Bitch in the 1970s, bringing her sister's characters to the screen.
Jackie's first novel, The World Is Full of Married Men, was published in 1968. She went on to create the much-loved Lucky Santangelo series and write Hollywood Wives, which became a successful television miniseries.
According to her official biography, her books have sold more than half a billion copies worldwide. She was awarded an OBE in 2013 for services to literature and charity.
Jackie's life away from the spotlight
Alongside her writing career, Jackie was a mother of three daughters and grandmother of six.
She also loved photography, regularly documenting the people around her, including family and friends. Despite her enormous publishing success, she continued to write her manuscripts by hand.
Jackie kept her breast cancer diagnosis private until the final weeks of her life. During the six years following her diagnosis, she wrote five more books and continued travelling on book tours. Her final novel, The Santangelos, was published in 2015.
On Loose Women, Joan explained that she believed Jackie's decision to keep her illness private reflected her wish to spare those close to her from worrying.
