Wedding bells may ring a second time for Britain's Prince Andrew and his not-so-estranged former wife, the Duchess of York, the pair has hinted.
Queen Elizabeth's second son and the duchess - popularly known as Fergie, from her maiden name, Sarah Ferguson - were divorced in 1996 but remain on friendly terms and live in different wings of Prince Andrew's mansion, near London, with their two daughters.
"I don't rule remarriage out and I certainly don't rule it in," Prince Andrew said in an interview with Tatler magazine leaked to British media yesterday ahead of a June publication. Fergie was equally enigmatic. "If it should happen, great. It is not in, nor is it ruled out," she told the magazine.
The bookmaker William Hill slashed its odds that the two would tie the knot again within a year from 33/1 to 3/1 and set odds of 6/1 that they would have a third child within two years.
Buckingham Palace, which had made little secret of its glee at seeing the back of Fergie, said the speculation was "premature because it simply isn't an issue. To try and see it as being some revelatory statement about intentions about remarriage is overgilding it, to be quite honest," a palace spokesman said.
Despite the animosity with Prince Andrew's family, Fergie has maintained close ties with him, organising his 40th birthday party in February attended by five former girlfriends.