AN anticipated courtroom divorce battle between the Earl and Countess of Strathmore failed to materialise yesterday after the pair came to a private agreement.

Glamis Castle - the earl's ancestral home in Scotland and the former home of the late Queen Mother - was at the centre of the case and had been expected to provoke a bitter dispute.

But the Court of Session in Edinburgh heard that the divorce of Michael Fergus Bowes-Lyon, 47, and his wife Isobel Charlotte Bowes-Lyon would now "proceed as undefended".

After the brief hearing, the Earl of Strathmore's solicitor said the terms of the divorce agreement would remain "entirely private".

The 18th Earl of Strathmore, who spends most of his time at the family estate at Holwick, near Middleton in Teesdale, County Durham, claimed that the couple's 20-year marriage had broken down irretrievably as a result of his wife's unreasonable behaviour.

The countess, whose address was given as Glamis Castle, demanded that she be allowed to stay in the matrimonial home, in Forfar, Angus, for the next 12 years. She also asked for £5m from the earl. The court did not hear how the demands had been resolved between the pair, who were not in court.

But Morag Wise, counsel for the Earl, told Temporary Judge Roderick Macdonald: "I can advise the court that following detailed discussions, the parties entered into private agreement to resolve the various issues in dispute between them."

The pair first appeared in court in March, when lawyers asked for the date of the divorce hearing to be brought forward because of fears about the earl's health.

Outside court, the Earl's solicitor, Alasdair Loudon, said: "Lord Strathmore wishes it to be known that he is very happy that matters have been satisfactorily concluded."

Lord and Lady Strathmore married in 1984 and have three children. They separated in August last year.

Glamis Castle has been the historic seat of the family ever since the lands were presented as a gift by King Robert II in 1372.

The earl was the Queen Mother's great-nephew and Holwick Lodge, in Teesdale, has enjoyed many a royal visit.