The Scottish National Party yesterday welcomed reports that former Bond star Sean Connery is considering a return to his native Scotland.
The 68-year-old actor and SNP supporter told the Mail on Sunday he and his wife, Micheline, were looking for a house in the Edinburgh area where they plan to spend up to three months a year.
A spokesman for the SNP said: "I think we would broadly welcome it. It is obviously an interesting announcement that Sean Connery has made and I think folk will regard it as a welcome announcement."
Connery, who has maintained strong links with Scotland, was the focus of a major political controversy two years ago when it was claimed a plan to award him a knighthood was vetoed by Labour because of his support for the SNP.
The Duchess of York is considering moving to Switzerland as one of a number of options for her future, it emerged yesterday.
Princess Beatrice (10) and Princess Eugenie (9) have been put down for the Aiglon College in Switzerland, which charges fees of £19,500 a year.
Last week the Surrey mansion proposed as a new home for the Duchess and her daughters went back on the market.
Birch Hall, in Windlesham, has remained empty since it was purchased last year by trustees on behalf of the two princesses.
The duchess refused to move in because she said she could not afford the upkeep and running costs of the Grade II listed property.
Dolly the sheep is expected to give birth to her second lamb "in a few days", scientists in Edinburgh said yesterday. But this time round, they expect less public attention on the birth, and are not planning to give her second offspring a name.
Dolly, the world's first mammal cloned from an adult cell, was born in July 1996 at Edinburgh's Roslin Institute. Her first lamb, Bonnie, was born on April 13th last year after she was mated the previous November with a Welsh Mountain ram called David.