Amanda Knox flew into London's Heathrow Airport on Tuesday as she made her way back to hometown Seattle in the United States, less than a day after being acquitted by an Italian jury.
The 24-year-old American was cleared along with her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, of murdering British student Meredith Kercher, after spending nearly four years in prison.
Meredith, a student at Leeds University from Coulsdon in Surrey, was discovered in bed, half-naked with her throat cut in November 2007.
Knox and Sollecito were convicted of murdering the 21-year-old after a year-long trial, receiving 26 and 25 year prison sentences respectively.
Knox was pictured smiling as she arrived in Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport on Tuesday, where she boarded a flight with her family bound for London, before taking a connecting flight to the US.
According to the Evening Standard, she was given treatment normally reserved for VIP guests at Heathrow, being escorted to the expensive Windsor Suite.
She is speculated to become a millionaire overnight after a bidding war broke out between television networks desperate to secure the all important first interview.
The prosecutor in the case has indicated he intends to appeal to Italy's highest court in order to overturn the acquittals.
If successful prosecutes could request that Knox be extradited back to Italy to complete her sentence, but it would be up to the Italian government whether they wanted to make such a request.
The prosecutor had incorrectly claimed in court on Monday that the US did not have an extradition treaty with Italy.
Sollecito was reported to have arrived back at his home near the city of Bari in southern Italy on Tuesday.
John Kercher, Meredith's father, told the Daily Mirror their acquittal was "ludicrous".
"It makes a mockery of the original trial," he said. "We are all shocked. We could understand them reducing the sentence, but completely freeing them? Wow."