Lady Archer could still face charges

Lady Archer stood by her husband throughout the trial

Police have denied a report that Mary Archer will not face prosecution over her evidence during her husband's Old Bailey trial.

The Sunday Telegraph claimed senior officers told the paper that Scotland Yard would not be pressing charges after Lady Archer took the stand during the perjury trial.

The British public is far more interested in why Mary Archer stood by Jeffrey Archer rather than whether Jeffrey Archer was guilty or not

Max Clifford

But a police spokeswoman told the BBC: "We heard what the judge has said and will take time to consider his comments."

Meanwhile there is speculation as to how much Lady Archer could earn by selling her story to the newspapers.

The News of the World, which was instrumental in bringing the perjury trail to court after it questioned Lord Archer's alibi for the night he was said to have slept with a prostitute, puts the figure at £250,000.

Extraordinary story

Editor Stuart Kuttner told the BBC: "We are certainly not in the business of paying her.

Lord Archer: Married to Mary for 35 years

"She does have an extraordinary story to tell."

It was the News of the World that claimed Lord Archer had paid prostitute Monica Coghlan £2,000 to prevent her talking about their relationship.

And in November 1999 the tabloid said the millionaire novelist had asked his former friend Ted Francis to concoct an alibi for him after telephone conversations were taped.

Payment 'improper'

However Mr Kuttner said that under the Press Complaints Commission guidelines it would perhaps be "improper" to pay for Lady Archer's story.

He argued that there were a number of "serious losers in the life" of Lord Archer who would be more deserving of benefiting from a cash windfall, such as the family of Ms Coghlan.

Publicist Max Clifford told BBC One's Breakfast with Frost programme that Lady Archer would be able to command a fortune for her story.

"The British public is far more interested in why Mary Archer stood by Jeffrey Archer rather than whether Jeffrey Archer was guilty or not."

During the trial at the Old Bailey while Lord Archer decided not to give evidence, his wife of 35 years did.

Lady Archer told the court: "I don't stand by him because of a sense of duty. I do it because I want to."

Funeral service

On Saturday Lord Archer was briefly reunited with his wife when he was given permission to attend his mother's funeral.

Two days after being jailed for four years for perjury and perverting the course of justice, he joined Lady Archer and his two sons William and James for the service in his home village of Grantchester in Cambridgeshire.

He was then taken back to Belmarsh prison, in London, to continue his four-year sentence.

The Old Bailey jury decided on Thursday that he had lied and cheated in his 1987 libel case against the Daily Star, which had printed a story claiming he had slept with a prostitute.

He was convicted of two counts of perjury and two counts of perverting the course of justice, but cleared of one count of perverting the course of justice.