Archer chronicled his time behind bars in a three-volume series titled A Prison Diary. The memoirs – Hell, Purgatory and Heaven – shared rare insight into the lives of inmates in British prisons, from the high-security HMP Belmarsh to the North Sea Camp open prison.
Before his imprisonment, Archer sought to change the laws of succession to give equal rights to the daughters of royals. Years later, his efforts inspired the Succession To The Crown Act of 2013, which ended the centuries-old practice of younger sons leapfrogging older daughters in the line of succession.
Some of Archer’s literary works addressed similar themes of gender bias and inequality. His upcoming novel Adam And Eve follows the daughter of an earl who wanted a son so he could pass down his estate, and the son of a shepherd who wanted a daughter because he knew a son would be sent off to war.
A love story and class commentary set against the backdrop of war, Archer said: “Adam And Eve has proved the most satisfying thing I have ever written.”
Archer is survived by his wife of 60 years, Dame Mary Archer, their two sons, two granddaughters and three grandsons, his publisher said.
