Luisa - Moore's third wife and the mother of his three children - was shattered by what she regarded as the dastardly betrayal by the husband she had been with for 38 years and a woman who was one of her best friends. In recent newspaper articles, Luisa, her firecracker Italian temperament to the fore, described Moore, among other things, as "ceasing to exist" and Tholstrup as "old meat, a hungry hanger-on who has had two husbands and three facelifts."

"I cant say I am exactly thrilled about what she said," says Moore. "But how do I tackle something like this? Shall I sue? No, it will all just get repeated. So, you have to say, fine. It really is not that important. It's the old thing of sticks and stones."

She did, I venture, sound bitter... "I am very reticent about talking about things. I just clam up because I am a complete coward," he says. "We are all fine now because life has a curious way of healing. You cut yourself and once the bleeding stops, a scab will grow and the skin will heal underneath. So you just get on with it."

It seems unlikely that Luisa will be comforted by this grisly little homily, but atleast she has relented and accepted that she and Moore will divorce, leaving the way open for him to marry Tholstrup if he wishes.

Funnily enough, this is an almost exact replica of the circumstances with which Luisa had to contend when she met Moore on a film set in Rome in 1962. At that time, his marriage to singer Dorothy Squires was crumbling and when he left her for Luisa, Squires vowed she would ever divorce him. Seven years later she conceded defeat and Roger and Luisa were finally married.

What does it say about Moore, I wonder, that even when spurned, neither of his wives wanted to let go of him?

"Oh, that is a hysterical question. It's because I am adorable!" he cries.

"No, to be honest, how would I know? I am very easy going. I don't like arguments, but I need lots of attention. Divorce was not a nice thing for either of them, but I don't know what it says about me. What do I know about it?"

But you were their husband. "Yes, but obviously not a very good one."

Despite all this, he reveals that he is not adverse to dipping a toe into the turbulent marital waters once more.

"I will be spending the holidays with my darling Kristina. And yes, I do want to marry her," he says.

Moore now spends his life flitting between a winter home in Crans Montana, Switzerland and a summer residence in Monte Carlo. Most of the time, however, he travels the world in his role as roving ambassador for UNICEF, a position he took up at Audrey Hepburn's behest in 1990. It has brought a meaning and purpose to his life.