HarperCollins said: "Hilary Mantel was one of the greatest English novelists of this century and her beloved works are considered modern classics. She will be greatly missed."

Thomas Cromwell said: "Hilary has reset the historical patterns through the way in which she’s reimagined the man."

She won the Man Booker Prize twice, for Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, which also won the 2012 Costa Book of the Year.

“Her beloved works are considered modern classics. She will be greatly missed.”

Dame Hilary is best known for her epic The Wolf Hall Trilogy

The first two books were adapted by Peter Kominsky for the BBC and broadcast on BBC Two in 2015 as Wolf Hall

Bill Hamilton, Dame Hilary’s agent at literary agency A.M. Heath, said it had been the “greatest privilege” to work with her throughout her career.