UK: Lord Archer was released from prison yesterday after serving half his four-year jail term for perjury and perverting justice.
The disgraced Tory peer and former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party was welcomed back into society by his wife, Mary, and son, William, before meeting with his probation officer.
He left Hollesley Bay open prison in Suffolk early yesterday but the flamboyant novelist stayed uncharacteristically silent about ending his prison ordeal.
One of Britain's most high-profile prisoners, Lord Archer has rarely been out of the news since being jailed in 2001 for lying on oath in a high-profile libel action against the tabloid Daily Star newspaper in 1987.
He was met by a crowd of waiting reporters, TV crews and photographers.
He left his prison cell at 8.17 a.m. to jump into a waiting BMW driven by his son William, followed by journalists in a convoy of cars. He was greeted with a kiss by his wife outside their 17th century mansion, the Old Vicarage, in Grantchester, near Cambridge.
Shortly after midday, he re-emerged and was driven out of the village by William to see his probation officer.
Entering the grey, graffiti-daubed building in Stockwell, south London, he remained tight-lipped about his newfound freedom.
More than an hour later, the peer looked slightly weary after completing the first of many probation appointments, and returned to his other home, a multi-million pound riverside penthouse overlooking the Thames.
At 4.45 p.m. Lady Archer visited the London apartment to see her husband. Asked how her day had been she said: "Fine".
Lord Archer must report to probation officers on a regular basis for a year.
It is thought he may be contemplating a career as a penal reformer, as former Tory Cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken did after his spell in jail three years ago. A statement issued by the peer confirmed he would be making a speech to the Howard League for Penal Reform in September.
The novelist was sentenced to four years for perjury and perverting the course of justice by faking an alibi in the libel case involving the prostitute Monica Coghlan.
Mr Mark Leech, founder of the ex-offenders' charity Unlock, said he hoped the peer would now become a voice for prison reform.
"Lord Archer has been treated extremely favourably. He was out of Belmarsh within three weeks, sent to a jail 20 minutes from his own front door when other inmates are hundreds of miles from home, he messed things up, was sent back to closed conditions for a few more weeks before going back to a cosy open jail.
"The Prison Service should be commended - I just wish they could do these things for the other 74,000 in jail today."