Hugh Bonneville and his girlfriend Heidi Kadlecova joined Stanley Tucci and his wife, Felicity Blunt, at Cheltenham Racecourse on Friday for the opening day of The November Meeting, where a memorial bench was unveiled in honour of late author Dame Jilly Cooper.
The annual three-day racing event brought together members of the entertainment industry, Cooper’s family and cast members from the television adaptation of her novel, Rivals, to pay tribute to the author, who regularly visited Cheltenham.
Hugh Bonneville and Heidi Kadlecova Attend in Matching Tweed
The Downton Abbey actor, 63, attended with Canadian philanthropist and animal advocate Heidi Kadlecova, 58. The couple coordinated their outfits in tweed, wearing long coats, hats and dark sunglasses as they watched the unveiling ceremony.
Bonneville and Kadlecova began dating in 2024, several months after the actor confirmed the end of his 25-year marriage to Lucinda Williams.
The pair later mingled with other guests attending the race meeting.
Stanley Tucci and Felicity Blunt Join the Memorial
Stanley Tucci, 66, attended alongside his wife, literary agent Felicity Blunt, 45. Blunt wore a green military-style coat with a matching fedora, while Tucci accompanied her to the event.
Blunt represented Cooper as her literary agent and is also one of the executive producers of Rivals. The couple joined the author’s relatives and members of the show’s cast for the memorial bench unveiling.
Rivals Cast Members Pay Their Respects
Actors Luke Pasqualino, who plays Basil Baddingham, and Victoria Smurfit, who portrays Maud O’Hara, were among those attending the ceremony.
The pair were seen speaking with Blunt before posing for photographs on the newly unveiled bench.
Pasqualino wore a dark grey roll-neck jumper with a grey tweed jacket, while Smurfit opted for a brown tweed suit, white shirt and tie.
Cooper’s family members also gathered at Cheltenham to honour the author.
Jilly Cooper Died After a Fall at Her Cotswolds Home
Dame Jilly Cooper died on 5 October 2025 after suffering a head injury in a fall down a flight of stairs at her home in the Cotswolds.
The Cheltenham memorial comes as the second half of the second series of Rivals prepares to return, with the production incorporating a tribute to Cooper following her death during filming.
Rivals Writer Reveals Tribute to Jilly Cooper
At a cast gathering at London’s BFI Southbank on Tuesday, writer Dominic Treadwell-Collins spoke about the author’s influence on the new episodes and the emotional impact of her death.
Danny Dyer, Alex Hassell, Victoria Smurfit, Aidan Turner, Bella Maclean, Luke Pasqualino and Emily Atack were among the cast members attending the event to celebrate the return of the series.
During a question-and-answer session, Treadwell-Collins became emotional as he explained that the production team had been filming a funeral scene when Cooper died.
He said the cast and crew had channelled their grief into the programme and revealed that a scene had been added to honour the author.
In the scene, Basil speaks with Muffy and recalls being told that dogs run towards people when they reach heaven. Treadwell-Collins said the moment was included as a tribute to Cooper.
He described the second half of the series as a tribute to the author and said the team wanted to make her proud.
Danny Dyer Recalls Emotional Memorial During Filming
Danny Dyer, who plays Freddie Jones in the television adaptation of Cooper’s 1988 novel, also reflected on the memorial held for the author while production was taking place.
He described the day as difficult for the cast and said the gathering took place halfway through filming.
Dyer said the experience gave the team greater motivation to complete the series to the best of their ability in honour of Cooper.
The Cheltenham gathering brought together her family, friends and colleagues as the author was remembered through the unveiling of the memorial bench.
