Surprise as Hilary Mantel omitted from Booker Prize shortlist

The British author had been among the favourites for the prize for her final instalment in the Thomas Cromwell trilogy

Hilary Mantel with her book 'The Mirror & The Light'. Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire

The announcement of the shortlist for the Booker Prize For Fiction has sprung a surprise with the omission of the hotly-tipped Hilary Mantel. 

The British author had featured on this year's longlist, and had been widely predicted to win the prize for an unprecedented third time with The Mirror and the Light, the third and final instalment of her take on the life of Thomas Cromwell.