Marina joins the list of royal splits

Buckingham Palace was last night preparing for yet another press siege. It is understood that the palace has been consulted over concerns that the marriage separation of Marina Mowatt, daughter of the Queen's cousin Princess Alexandra, could lead to further public revelations about the internal affairs of the Royal Family.

With the Queen still enmeshed in minutiae of the divorce of the Prince and Princess of Wales, the public failure of yet another royal couple, however far down the cast list, is likely to be a severe embarrassment.

The separation of Marina Mowatt and her photographer husband, Paul, is not in itself worthy of much media attention. However the connections of Marina's mother, a close confidant of the Queen, and Marina's own royal friendships (the Prince of Wales is her godfather), made the palace extremely jittery when it learnt the six-year relationship of the Mowatts had ended. When palace officials learned a Sunday newspaper had obtained "inside information" on what allegedly brought about the final end of the marriage, the jitters appear to have turned to major concern.

It is understood palace lawyers have been put on full alert and are waiting to see what published fall-out emerges from the separation.