About to Call It Quits? : Royalty: Official word expected on separation. Couple’s relationship was reportedly strained by ‘Fergie’s’ lifestyle, including her friendship with Texas millionaire’s son.

LONDON â€”  After 5 1/2 years of marriage, a formal separation appears imminent for Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York--red-haired “Fergie,â€� whose exuberance initially captivated Britain but whose behavior and appearance eventually prompted an outpouring of criticism.

An announcement from Buckingham Palace was reportedly in the works Wednesday night after England’s tabloid press splashed news of the breakup over front pages earlier in the day.

The tabloids reported that the split was over the 32-year-old duchess’s penchant for fancy vacations without her husband, also 32. Andrew, second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, holder of the title Duke of York and a naval officer, is often away at sea.

He is the fourth in line of succession to the British crown.

The duchess was heavily criticized earlier this year when newspapers reported that about 120 snapshots showing her on a 1990 holiday in Morocco with Steve Wyatt, the 36-year-old son of a Texas millionaire, had been found by a cleaning woman in Wyatt’s former London apartment.

Andrew was reportedly furious that the pictures had come to light, and Queen Elizabeth warned the duchess not to see Wyatt again, according to reporters who cover the Royal Family.

The queen was widely reported to have attempted to persuade the duchess, the former Sarah Ferguson, to save the marriage, but she was unsuccessful. As head of the Church of England, which is riven over the issue, the queen is known to detest royal divorces. She is said to hold a powerful image of how deeply the monarchy was shaken by the late Duke of Windsor’s abdication as King Edward VIII to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorced American.

Still, members of the Royal Family have had their share of marital troubles in recent years.

The marriage of the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, and the Princess of Wales, the former Diana Spencer, has been under constant scrutiny since its fairy-tale beginnings in 1981.

In addition, the queen’s sister, Princess Margaret, was divorced in 1978 after 18 years of marriage to photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, who was given the title Lord Snowdon. Princess Margaret has not remarried, but Snowdon has.

In 1989, the queen’s only daughter, Princess Anne, announced a legal separation from her husband, Capt. Mark Phillips. The palace, which generally maintains a stony silence on the royals’ private lives, issued a 26-word statement about the split.

Lawyers for the Royal Family have apparently begun talks to determine the financial arrangements of a formal separation for the prince and the duchess. The Yorks were reportedly discussing the custody of their two young daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and the future of their new $9-million home not far from the Windsor Castle grounds--a mansion sometimes unflatteringly likened to a supermarket.

Friends blame the couple’s marital troubles on the strain of living under the glare of press and publicity. The headstrong “Fergie� had conducted several well-publicized romances before she became engaged to Andrew, whose many girlfriends and reputation had earned him the nickname “Randy Andy.�

But the strong spirits seemed to complement one another, and they were married on July 23, 1986, at Westminister Abbey.

At first, palace observers say, the duchess seemed to adjust to official life, but she never seemed to fit into the Royal Family, as did her good friend Princess Diana. She was the least active of the royals in taking on official duties.

The media have sharply criticized her lifestyle, labeling her tactless and noisy, and her fitness as a mother. Even her fashion sense and weight, which tends toward plumpness, came under scrutiny. She was also said to be too willing to accept all-expense-paid vacations; the royal couple receive $450,000 yearly from the government to cover official expenses.

The duchess was plagued by press reports in 1988 that her father, Maj. Ron Ferguson, who had remarried after a divorce from her mother, was seen visiting a seedy London massage parlor. That same year, her sister lost custody of her children during divorce proceedings in Australia, in which the husband blamed the duchess’s meddling for the breakup.

In recent months, Andrew has been taking advanced military courses as part of his training for promotion in the navy. The couple have not been seen together since early January, and the duchess has participated in only three official engagements this year.

On Wednesday morning, the grim-faced prince drove off with his bodyguard to Sandhurst, the royal military academy, to attend classes. The duchess was seen delivering one of her daughters to school. Neither spoke to waiting reporters.