Three London tabloids published front-page headlines Monday speculating about a possible divorce for Princess Anne following disclosures about letters to her from a senior royal aide.
"Can This Marriage Be Saved?" asked the Daily Mail."Anne Divorce Crisis at Palace" said Today.
"Royal Marriage Crisis" headlined the Daily Mirror, over a picture of the princess in riding habit on Sunday, titled: "ANNE. Sad, Shattered, Alone."
The banner headlines were provoked by a Buckingham Palace statement Saturday night that four letters to the princess that had come into the hands of another tabloid, The Sun, were written by the queen's equerry, Royal Navy Cmdr. Timothy Laurence.
The statement followed press speculation on the writer's identity.
The letters were stolen inside Buckingham Palace, where the princess has an apartment she sometimes uses. She lives with her husband, former army Capt. Mark Phillips, at Gatcombe Park in western England.
The Sun said the letters were delivered to its offices anonymously. It did not publish the letters and said it gave them to Scotland Yard, the London police headquarters. The Yard said it was investigating the theft.
Nothing was publicly known of the content of the letters but the Sunday Mirror claimed to know that they were of "an extremely personal and intimate nature" and "too hot to handle."
The palace press office was closed early Monday so no comment could be obtained on the divorce speculation.
Laurence, 34, was unavailable for comment. He was last seen at Windsor Castle on Friday, attending the queen at the lunch for Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
Anne, 38, is seventh in line to the throne and has been married to Phillips, 40, since 1973. They have two children.