Only a last-minute pardon by Queen Anne saves them.

When a last-minute pardon arrives, it's not for the man but for his impassive-looking consort.

His smile held a kind of wild and ugly relief, like a killer walking away with a last-minute pardon from the gallows.

I'd been handed a last-minute pardon by the governor himself.

His trashy exit, with the last-minute pardons, angered many here.

There's still time for a "frenzy of last-minute pardons" from Bush.

But the incessant controversy over a series of last-minute pardons has exacerbated his forced isolation.

Nonetheless, most Americans say they essentially believe his explanation for the last-minute pardons that have shadowed his exit from public life.

He himself received a last-minute pardon from his brother the day Bill Clinton left office.

I was not out there hawking last-minute pardons and selling my reputation.