The world's most prolific romantic novelist, Dame Barbara Cartland, died peacefully in her sleep yesterday after a short illness. She was 98.
She wrote 723 books with estimated worldwide sales of one billion copies in 36 languages. For many years she produced a book every two weeks and appeared in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's most prolific novelist.
She wrote her first book at the age of 21, and it was only the onset of illness last October which forced her to reduce her workload. Although married twice and deeply interested in men, sex never appeared in her stories. She wrote about pure love with no sex and a happy ending where the beautiful, innocent heroine and the tall handsome hero got married and lived happily ever after.
"You won't find my characters rolling around in bed," she said. "It's not a very pretty sight. People like me because I'm pure. Nowadays everyone is turning to morality and everyone is turning to me."
She was quintessentially English and was the first person in Britain to own a white Rolls-Royce. She spent her latter years living in luxury with a doting staff and numerous small dogs.
In a letter published in 1991, How I Want To Be Remembered, she said she hoped her novels would give "beauty and love to the world". She regularly defended herself against media criticism because of her reputation as the high priestess of romantic fiction and her love of the colour pink.
Dame Barbara, who died at her home in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, surrounded by her family, had two sons and a daughter, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A step granddaughter was the late Diana, Princess of Wales.