Jilly Cooper has finally admitted after almost 50 years that she ignored the advise she offered in her hit book How To Stay Married.
The best-selling author wrote the book in 1969 where she stressed a good wife could not ignore her husband’s amorous approaches more than twice in a row or risk him straying.
She also advised that a good wife must wash, clean and cook for her husband – even if she has her own career.
Jilly Cooper and her husband Leo were married for more than 50 years until his death in 2013
Jilly, who was awarded a CBE in March, wrote the book How to Stay Married in 1969
Despite their long marriage, both Jilly and Leo admitted having affairs with someone else
Writing in The Lady magazine, she acknowledged she was shocked re-reading her book with a fresh pair of eyes a half of century.
She wrote: ‘I nearly died of horror. What a smug, opinionated, proselytising little know-it all I was then. More shamingly, I have never practised what I preached.’
The book was published in 1969 although Jilly admitted she did not follow its advice
She continued: ‘I advocated total honesty about money being essential in marriage and that “couples should always know what the other is spending”. That, from a wife who regularly smuggled new clothes into her wardrobe, ripping off the price tag, lying, “This old thing.”‘
Jilly married Leo Cooper seven years before publishing her controversial book.
The couple remained married until Mr Cooper’s death in 2013.
However, their marriage was strained in 1990 when a woman came forward and said she was having an affair with Mr Cooper for several years.
She added: ‘An affair can happen to anybody. I don’t think it’s a reason for a marriage to break up. And nobody really has any idea what goes on between a couple when the door is shut, do they? Often when a husband or wife gets vilified for behaving badly, the other half has been behaving far worse.’
She claimed a marriage requires ‘an awful lot of luck’ but describes it as ‘the best thing life has to offer’.
Jilly said she routinely ignored the advise contained within her 1967 book