Leeds-born celebrity Barbara Taylor Bradford has been honoured at a lunch to mark the launch of her latest book.
Barbara, who is one of the world’s biggest-selling authors, was made an official Yorkshire Patron during a visit to Hazlewood Castle, near Leeds.
The writer, who began her career at the Yorkshire Evening Post, said: “I am thrilled and very touched to be chosen.
“That little girl from Leeds who started her career in the typist pool of the YEP is going to be an official ambassador for Yorkshire.”
She wrote her first novel, A Woman of Substance, in 1979 and it has now sold more than 32 million copies. Her latest novel, Secrets From the Past, is her 28th book.
Barbara, who will be 80 in May, now lives in New York with her husband, film producer Bob Bradford, but she visits Leeds regularly.
She was born in Armley and attended Christ Church School, which also counts fellow writer Alan Bennett amongst its former pupils.