MADINGLEY, England - Imprisoned novelist and politician Jeffrey Archer was freed to attend his mother's funeral Saturday, two days after being convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Archer, a millionaire best-selling author and former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, was sentenced to four years in prison after his conviction Thursday for lying when he successfully sued a newspaper that reported he hired a prostitute. His mother, Lola Hayne, 87, died near the end of the court proceedings.

Archer left Belmarsh prison to join his wife Mary and sons William and James for a brief ceremony at a crematorium in this town near Cambridge.

It was a dignified service carried out in a very straightforward way, said Right Rev. Peter Walker, who conducted the service.

The 61-year-old arrived at the crematorium wearing the same clothes he had on the final day of the trial but later changed into a clean black suit.

After the service, the family headed to nearby Grantchester, where Archer was allowed to stop briefly at his home before walking a short distance to a memorial service at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Mary.

He read a passage from the Book of Revelation, and then hugged and kissed his wife and waved to his family as he boarded a van to return to prison. He arrived back at Belmarsh shortly before 3 p.m.

Before scandal brought him down, Archer was a candidate for mayor of London and friends with Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major. His books include Kane & Abel and The Prodigal Daughter.

In convicting Archer, a jury found that he asked for a false alibi in his 1987 libel case against the Daily Star tabloid, used a fake diary as evidence, perjured himself in an affidavit and lied under oath. Archer said he will appeal.

Some lawmakers are arguing he should be stripped of his life peerage and title of Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare, which entitle him to sit in the House of Lords when he gets out of prison.