Downton's Hugh Bonneville and his 'animal advocate' girlfriend wear matching looks on day one of Cheltenham races alongside Felicity Blunt and Stanley Tucci

The couples were out in force at Cheltenham's The November Meeting on Friday as Hugh Bonneville and girlfriend Heidi Kadlecova attended alongside Felicity Blunt and husband Stanley Tucci. The Downton Abbey star, 63, and his 'animal advocate' partner, 58, coordinated their looks in matching tweed ensembles as they attended day one of the annual three-day racing fixture held at Cheltenham racecourse. The pair both sported long coats, hats and dark shades as they watched the unveiling of Dame Jilly Cooper's memorial bench, before mingling with other race goers.Hugh looked relaxed and content with Canadian philanthropist Heidi, whom he began dating in 2024, months after confirming his split from wife of 25 years Lucinda Williams.Meanwhile, literary agent Felicity, 45, and The Devil Wears Prada star Stanley, 66, cut stylish figures at the event, with Felicity donning a green military-style coat and matching fedora hat. Stanley and Felicity, who was Dame Jilly's literary agent and is one of Rivals' executive producers, were joined by some of the cast and Jilly's family to pay their respects amid the tribute to the author, who was a regular visitor to Cheltenham. The couples were out in force at Cheltenham's The November Meeting on Friday as Hugh Bonneville and girlfriend Heidi Kadlecova attended Felicity Blunt and husband Stanley Tucci were also in attendance at the racing fixture held at Cheltenham racecourseLuke Pasqualino (Basil Baddingham) and Victoria Smurfit (Maud O'Hara) were seen chatting animatedly to Felicity amid the proceedings before sitting on the bench for a photo. While Luke was dapper in a dark grey rollneck jumper and grey tweed jacket, Victoria dressed to impress with her ensemble.The actress, whose character Maud is causing a stir on the show thanks to her bed-hopping ways, nailed androgynous chic in a brown tweed suit, white shirt and tie. Dame Jilly Cooper died from a head injury after falling down a flight of stairs at her Cotswolds home on October 5, 2025. The memorial bench unveiling comes as it's revealed that Rivals features a secret tribute to Jilly after she died during filming of new series.As the cast gathered at London's BFI Southbank on Tuesday night to celebrate the return of her beloved bonkbuster, the joyful reunion took an emotional turn when writer Dominic Treadwell-Collins revealed a touching scene Dame Jilly never got to see.Danny Dyer, Alex Hassell, Victoria Smurfit, Aidan Turner, Bella Maclean, Luke Pasqualino and Emily Atack were among the stars who watched on as Dame Jilly's much-loved characters returned to Rutshire for the second half of series two.Speaking at a Q&A, Treadwell-Collins became visibly emotional as he explained how the new episodes had been shaped by the loss of the author they all adored. The Downton Abbey star, 63, and his 'animal advocate' partner, 58, coordinated their looks in matching tweed ensembles as they attended day one of the annual three-day event The pair both sported long coats, hats and dark shades as they took as they watched the unveiling of Dame Jilly Cooper's memorial bench, before mingling with other race goers The pair stood together as they watched the memorial bench unveiling Hugh looked relaxed and content with Canadian philanthropist Heidi, whom he began dating in 2024, months after confirming his split from wife of 25 years Lucinda Williams Hugh rocked his finest tweed ensemble for the dayMeanwhile, literary agent Felicity, 45, and The Devil Wears Prada star Stanley, 66, cut stylish figures at the event, with Felicity donning a green military-style coat and matching fedora hat Film star Stanley accompanied his wife to the event Stanley and Felicity, who was Dame Jilly's literary agent and is one of Rivals' executive producers, were joined by some of the cast and Jilly's family to pay their respects Luke Pasqualino (Basil Baddingham) and Victoria Smurfit (Maud O'Hara) were seen chatting animatedly to Felicity amid the proceedings before sitting on the bench for a photo Felicity and Victoria posed for a snap together Dame Jilly's family gathered together at Cheltenham to honour the authorHe said: 'Sorry I'm getting emotional about it. Jilly died while we were filming this, we were filming a funeral. We poured our grief into this show.'There's a moment we have in the script that wasn't in the first draft, that Jilly didn't see, where Bas is with Muffy and says "When you go to heaven a lady told me that the dogs run towards you", and that was a tribute to Jilly.'This second half of the show is a tribute to this incredible woman that we all adored and we really want to make her proud.'Dyer, who plays the swaggering Freddie Jones in the adaptation of Cooper's 1988 novel, also reflected on the emotional memorial held for the author while filming was under way.He said: 'It was a tough day at the memorial, we all got off our nut in the church which was great. That's what she would've wanted to be fair.'It was a very emotional time and it was half way through shooting, so we were just really aware of what we wanted to achieve.'It just gave us some real drive and ambition to make it as good as we possibly could for her.'