Mary Archer said she was upset by stories about her face-lift

The wife of jailed peer Jeffrey Archer was awarded a permanent injunction to stop her former aide revealing details about the private lives of the family.

She will also receive �2,500 in damages for hurt feelings.

During the hearing, Lady Archer, 58, said Ms Williams was the source of a "distasteful" story about her secret face-lift in the national press.

She also said that Ms Williams, 49, told police about work she was doing to help her husband's case in the run-up to his perjury trial.

Damages were never a priority for me in this case Lady Archer Lady Archer's statement

Welcoming the ruling, Lady Archer said the injunction would protect "me, my family, our friends and employees from further breaches of our confidence and violations of our privacy by Jane Williams".

She said it was a "vindication" of her decision to take action and added: "The award of damages is in line with recent similar cases, but damages were never a priority for me in this case."

The judge said that Ms Williams, in breach of her duty to Lady Archer, gave confidential information in substantial quantities to publicist Max Clifford and journalists from the Mail on Sunday, the News of the World and the Daily Mail.

What has brought her under the spotlight of media attention is the fact that she is married to Lord Archer Mr Justice Jackson

Mr Justice Jackson said: "It must have been obvious... that one way or another the information she was disclosing would find its way into the newspapers."

He said that Lady Archer would continue to be the focus of unfavourable publicity, but that she was not a "public figure" who merited close scrutiny, as Ms Williams's lawyers had argued.

Mr Justice Jackson said: "What has brought her under the spotlight of media attention is the fact that she is married to Lord Archer and the nature of Lord Archer's various achievements and activities."

During the hearing, Lady Archer said private information about her had been taken by Ms Williams and "served up on a platter with a sauce of malice for the tabloid newspapers".

'Amusing anecdotes'

Ms Williams worked for Lady Archer for 13 years, before she was dismissed in November 2001.

Jane Williams worked for the Archers for 13 years

Earlier this week she told the court she saw nothing wrong with digging herself out of debt by writing, like Lord Archer himself.

Ms Williams said that she wanted to relate "amusing anecdotes" about her years with the family, and denied acting through "spite and greed".

Ms Williams, who was once described by Lady Archer as her "second skin, her mission control, her right hand", had accepted her former boss was entitled to an injunction, but had challenged its scope.

Burnt diaries

The six day High Court hearing followed an employment tribunal in October of last year.

Ms Williams claimed at the tribunal that she was victimised after making allegations to police about Lord Archer's diaries being burnt before his trial for perjury.

However, the tribunal accepted Lady Archer's claim that Ms Williams was dismissed because she would not accept a part-time job or sign a confidentiality agreement.

Ms Williams, who is unemployed and faces an �85,000 legal bill from the tribunal, was said by the judge on Thursday to be in "a state of penury".