Nobody will be more pleased than Woolworths at a Sunday newspaper report that Prince William and Kate Middleton have been seeing each other again.

So convinced was the chainstore that the second in line to the throne and the accessories buyer for the Jigsaw fashion store were a permanent item that it commissioned a range of more than 20 commemorative wedding souvenirs including mugs, plates and a special edition mobile phone.

Disaster struck the souvenir industry in April when it was disclosed that the couple had ended a relationship forged when they were young undergraduates at St Andrews University.

Now, according to a somewhat breathless report in The Mail On Sunday, the couple were reunited at an Army party at Bovington, Dorset, danced intimately, and vanished early to the Prince’s private quarters.

Cornet Wales, as he is known when in uniform, is a junior officer in the Blues and Royals and is currently spending five months at the West Country base learning to be am armoured reconnaissance troop commander. The party, on June 9, is said to have been held to celebrate the end of one of his courses.

During her three years in the unrelenting limelight beginning with her appearance in royal company on the ski slopes on Kloster in April 2004 Miss Middleton, 25, was plagued by tabloid photographers. The couple also appear plagued by so-called friends who are happy to spill the beans to gossip columnists. The friends are never named.

When the seemingly happy union was wound up earlier this year, the “friends” whispered in tabloid ears that Miss Middleton was beginning to feel neglected by the Prince, who was unwilling to commit to a long-term relationship and eventual marriage, and whose attention was largely consumed by the tough early stages of a military career. Loyally, however, she was present at his passing-out parade at Sandhurst.

Now the friends have been busy updating their analysis, and claiming that the pair have had several dates in recent weeks.

“Kate’s a lovely girl and she absolutely loves William. They were incredibly well matched, but she’s told us she’s trying to work out what she wants and whether she really does want to get back with him.” one friend told the newspaper.

“It’s such a nightmare because she knows that if they do get back together, there’ll be no turning back. There will have to be an engagement and then marriage.”

Another anonymous friend confided: “Kate has played a clever game. When they split up, which actually happened weeks before it was announced, she stepped back and allowed William a bit of space. While she was heartbrokem she was also able to unleash a bit more of her true self.”

Clarence House, however, declined to descend into the rumour pool, saying it would not comment on the Prince’s private life.

Miss Middleton is expected to be among VIP guests at next Sunday’s Concert for Diana, organised in her memory by her two sons on what would have been her 46th birthday.

Prince William himself turned 25 last week, entitling him to the income generated by his late mother’s £6.5 million bequest to him, estimated at around £250,000 a year.

When the split was announced in April no less an authority than Judy Wade, royal correspondent of Hello! magazine, predicted a reconciliation when Prince William realised what he had lost. Yesterday the bookmakers appeared to agree, slashing the odds against an eventual engagement from 33-1 to 3-1.

It may still be premature, however, to break out the champagne in the Woolworths boardroom.

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