SOMEHOW, the announcement of the divorce of the Duke and Duchess of York, the collapse of their marriage and the follies and scandals that have surrounded it are all succinctly explained by the fact that the soon-to-be no longer Her Royal Highness is in the middle of a skiing holiday in the Alps.

There, epitomised in a nutshell, is the raison d' M-

tre of the duchess and the reason for the marriage crashing to its end - the fun-seeking, escapist avoidance of responsibility, both as a royal and as a wife. But though she gets a reported £2million settlement and custody of the couple's children, it seems Fergie may be written off in other ways than by her husband and his troubled family.

For, as she becomes unroyal, she may embark in terms of media interest into the realm of a has-been and then, hopefully, a nobody - and we may hear less of the woman who did so much to bring royalty and herself into disrepute.

If so, it will not be an all-sad conclusion.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.