Jackie Collins Planned Funeral Party

Jackie Collins planned a ''big'' funeral party for her Hollywood friends before she died.

The 77-year-old author - who passed away over the weekend after secretly battling breast cancer for six years - made all the arrangements for a lavish send off to take place in her home town of Beverly Hills.

The writer's close pal Christopher Biggins told The Sun newspaper: ''There's not going to be a funeral. There's going to be a cremation and a big party.

''Jackie organised everything.''

Sandra Bullock and Jackie's sister, the actress Dame Joan Collins, led tributes to the author when news spread of her death.

The 'Miss Congeniality' actress - who starred in a TV series based on her best-selling books - praised the ''smart and talented'' author whilst Joan, 82, described Jackie as her ''best friend''.

She said: ''She was my best friend. I admire how she handled this. She was a wonderful, brave and a beautiful person and I love her.''

Sharon Osbourne also paid tribute to the star on Twitter.

She captioned a picture of herself with Jackie: ''Shocked & devastated at the death of @JackiejCollins. Loved & respected her. Thoughts & prayers go out to her family. (sic)''

In an interview before she died, the writer said she was happy that she got to ''do it my way''.

She said: I did it my way, as Frank Sinatra would say. ''I've written five books since the diagnosis, I've lived my life, I've travelled all over the world, I have not turned down book tours and no one has ever known until now when I feel as though I should come out with it.''