Lord Archer, who will start today as Prisoner FF8282 in Hollesley Bay open prison, could finish it by accompanying his wife to a champagne reception at Buckingham Palace.

The peer is due to emerge today after serving half his four-year sentence for perjury. The Duke of Edinburgh has invited Lady Archer to the palace as a trustee of the Cambridge Foundation. There has been talk that her husband could arrive as her escort.

Last night Buckingham Palace appeared nonplussed by the possibility of Lord Archer's appearance, refusing to comment when asked whether he would be welcome.

Reports suggest Lord Archer will emerge from the Suffolk jail at some point after 6am ready to settle scores with enemies and fight to clear his name after his conviction for perjury in 2001.

But Jonathan Aitken, a fellow Tory ex-convict, yesterday advised him to find closure. Mr Aitken, imprisoned for perjury committed during a libel battle with the Guardian, said he found it easier to "get rid of all the past baggage by completely accepting what I had done was wrong".

There were no clues to any new mood of reconciliation when Lord Archer released a brief statement on the eve of his release last night. However, it did suggest that he could become a champion of prison reform when he confirmed he would be speaking to the Howard League for Penal Reform in September.

Lord Archer's statement thanked those who had visited him in jail and the "countless members of the public" who sent letters, cards and gifts.

The statement said: "I want to thank my wife Mary and my sons, William and James, for their unwavering and unstinting support during this unhappy period in my life.

"I should also like to thank friends who took the trouble to visit me in prison, as well as countless members of the public who sent letters, cards and gifts. I shall not be giving any interviews for the foreseeable future. However, I have accepted an invitation to address the Howard League for Penal Reform's conference at New College Oxford in September, and several requests to do charity auctions in the run-up to Christmas."

Mark Leech, founder of the ex-offenders' charity Unlock, said he would welcome Lord Archer becoming a "powerful voice" for reform. After being met by the media pack today, Lord Archer will be driven away, probably to his £1.5m home in Grantchester near Cambridge, although it is believed he has made his London penthouse his "designate address". He will be on parole for 12 months.