Sporting a wide grin despite his gaunt frame Simon Mann embraces his wife, Amanda, in the first photographs to be released since his return to Britain.

The freed mercenary is preparing to sell his story of the failed plot to seize a tiny oil-rich West African state, after being unexpectedly pardoned by the government of Equatorial Guinea this week.

The Old Etonian and former SAS soldier could make as much as £2 million in the next year from deals with publishers, newspapers and television companies, according to the publicist Max Clifford.

The couple, who posed for pictures at an undisclosed countryside location, offered their thanks for the warmth they have received since Mann’s early release from a 34-year jail sentence.

“Amanda and I want to thank everyone for the warmth that has been shown to us since my return,” Mann, 57, said in a statement. “We now need some time on our own to be with our family and friends.”

The movements of Mann have been tightly co-ordinated since he returned to Britain amid bids for the rights to his story.

He was jailed for his part in the plot to topple the government in Equatorial Guinea and instal the opposition leader Severo Moto. He was arrested with an aircraft of other mercenaries on a runway at the Zimbabwean airport in Harare in March 2004.

Scotland Yard counter-terrorism detectives are preparing to question Mann, who had indicated he would be willing to stand as a witness for the prosecution in the trial of any of the alleged plotters.

During his trial Mann claimed that several prominent figures helped to organise and finance the plot in London.

In court he alleged that Sir Mark Thatcher, the son of Baroness Thatcher, was “part of the management team”, and claimed that Ely Calil, a Lebanese-born tycoon, was “the boss”.

Both men deny the claims.

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