Jeffrey Archer was freed on parole this morning after serving half of a four-year jail sentencefor perjury and perverting the course of justice.
The British novelist and disgraced politician welcomed an end to what he called this unhappy period in my life".
Archer, once a top politician when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and later made a lord by the British Queen, was jailed for four years in 2001 for lying in a libel trial against a newspaper that said he had had sex with a prostitute.
The 63-year-old millionaire is expected to carry on writing novels, but a career in politics is thought unlikely.
The case destroyed his political career and piled embarrassment on the opposition Conservative Party, dogged for years by sleaze scandals.
Archer is expected to join his wife, Mary, at their country home in the village of Grantchester.
Friends say Archer will campaign for prison reform and return to writing the novels which made him his fortune.
His literary agent declined to say if Archer will publish an account of prison life or a new novel. A spokesman at his London office said he would release a statement after his release.
Archer will keep his title of "Lord" unless the government introduces legislation to strip him of it, a senior civil servant said earlier this month.
Lord Archer later met his probation officer for the first time since beingreleased from jail.
Entering the grey graffiti-daubed building in Stockwell Road, Stockwell, southLondon, he remained tight-lipped despite his new-found freedom.
He was forced to make his way slowly through the pack of photographers toreach the entrance.
His dark green BMW stood parked outside on a single red line as the novelistattended his appointment.
After speaking to a receptionist, Archer settled himself down in the waitingarea, the back of his head visible through one of the centre's front windows.
After a few minutes, he was greeted by a probation officer and taken to hismeeting.