Rupert Edward Algernon Campbell-Black is a fictional character in the Rutshire Chronicles series of romance novels written by Jilly Cooper. He is the eighth-generation descendant of Rupert Black (who married Miss Campbell). Campbell-Black's first appearance is in the novel Riders, which follows the lives and loves of a group of horse riders and show-jumpers. Although initially portrayed as a brutish, womanizing, adulterous cad, Campbell-Black's character is later somewhat redeemed through his triumphant winning of an Olympic gold medal for Great Britain. His loyalty is also highlighted through his friendships with Billy Lloyd-Foxe, Ricky France-Lynch and Declan O'Hara, as well as his gentle courtship of his second wife Agatha 'Taggie' O'Hara. He has five children: Marcus and Tabitha from his marriage with Helen Macaulay, adopted children Xavier and Bianca with Taggie, and the illegitimate Perdita.

Cooper has acknowledged that the character of Campbell-Black was inspired by David Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort, Andrew Parker Bowles, the former husband of Queen Camilla,[1] and Michael Howard, 21st Earl of Suffolk.[2]

In September 2016, Bantam Press published Mount! with the strap line 'Rupert Campbell-Black is back...'.

Appearances

  • Riders (1986 novel) and Riders (1993 film)
  • Rivals (1988 novel)
  • Polo (1991 novel)
  • The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous (1993 novel and 1997 television miniseries)
  • Appassionata (1996 novel)
  • Score! (1999 novel)
  • Pandora (2002 novel)
  • Wicked! (2006 novel)
  • Jump! (2010 novel)
  • Mount! (2016 novel)
  • Tackle! (2023 novel)

Notes

  1. Rowan Pelling, On its 30th anniversary, why Riders is the best erotic fiction of all time dated 7 March 2015 at telegraph.co.uk, accessed 20 January 2018
  2. "Cotswolds author Jilly Cooper mourns death of Earl who inspired one of her most iconic characters". Gloucestershire Live. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.


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