The Prince of Wales last night entertained a glittering array of celebrities to say thank-you for their charity work. He and long-term companion Camilla Parker Bowles were holding a dinner party for the likes of Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall and Sir Elton John to mark the 25th anniversary of the Prince's Trust.

Others who have supported the charity's work over the years and who were invited to St James's Palace, included pop stars Geri Halliwell and Sting.

Guests from the acting world included Joanna Lumley, Richard E Grant, Dame Diana Rigg, Joely Richardson and Ben Elton.

Boxer Frank Bruno and leading designer Jasper Conran were also invited.

It was a truly A-list event, with a string of guests which most party organisers would kill for.

There was a time when it would have been difficult to imagine Charles feeling at home in such glitzy company. In years gone by, he was thought of as a rather stuffy, tweedy type - who was overshadowed by the dazzling ''People's Princess'' Diana.

But today, Charles is a man transformed and his dinner party follows a number of recent outings to showbusiness events.

Last month, for instance, he attended the British Fashion Awards 2001 - the highlight of London Fashion Week. There, he rubbed shoulders with designers Stella McCartney and Nicole Farhi, Hollywood actress Minnie Driver and the ever-fashionable Jemima Khan.

When he presented the award for British Designer of the Year to Alexander McQueen, Charles jokingly referred to his old image, saying: ''I was once voted the world's worst dressed man so it is surprising you have invited me here tonight.''

Prior to that event, Charles - along with Camilla and Prince William - all attended the tenth birthday party of the Press Complaints Commission. Again, they were part of an all-star cast.

So what has brought about this apparently fundamental change in the life of the prince, who once seemed plunged in dark depression but who has finally emerged from the shadows in his fifties?

Charles's image has certainly been revolutionised in the past few years. While once he was seen as the villain, he is now more often cast in the role of hero - as a devoted father, as a relaxed prince at ease with the stars.

Clearly, some skilful spin-doctoring has been at play behind the scenes. But it was far from certain, after Diana's tragic death, that Charles would emerge from his desperate despair.

For Diana's fatal car-crash in that dingy Paris underpass did throw him into mind-numbing emotional turmoil.

Many feared that he would be overwhelmed by guilt about what had happened to his former wife. After all, if the royal ''fairytale'' marriage had followed the expected script, Diana would not have been in the company of international playboy Dodi al Fayed on that fateful August night four years ago.

Charles can be an introspective, self-pitying, self-deprecating and melancholy man. It is in his nature to blame himself for what had happened. Indeed, his sense of profound guilt at Diana's sudden and brutal death is something he may never quite shed.

But as time passed and the Prince reached the milestone of his 50th birthday, he emerged from the Diana years a stronger man focused on a new future.

One factor behind this change was his relationship with the divorcee Mrs Parker Bowles. Charles and Camilla's love affair has spanned more than a quarter of a century.

She is central to his emotional well-being and was a tower of strength for him in his darkest days.

At one time, the couple did not dare to be seen together in public for fear of a backlash against the woman whom Diana had accused of wrecking her marriage.

But softly, softly over the years their relationship has been slowly ''normalised". At first, news of their continuing commitment to each other began to leak out.

Later Camilla was invited to Sandringham, the Norfolk estate, for a weekend house party along with New Labour spin doctor Peter Mandelson who was then at the peak of his powers, even though those have now waned.

Next, Camilla was to meet Prince William and Prince Harry who became increasingly friendly with her children Tom and Laura.

Charles and Camilla were then pictured together in public at The Ritz in London and at subsequent trips to the theatre. ''Family'' holidays in the sun were organised.

And the remaining obstacle to ''normalisation'' was overcome with a well-publicised meeting between Camilla and the Queen which was arranged at a 60th birthday party for ex-King Constantine of Greece at Highgrove.

Without doubt, part of the change in Charles we have witnessed over recent years has been a lifting of his mood as he finds increasing personal happiness.

But another factor behind Charles's new sense of purpose was his need to support his two sons after their mother's death.

Charles knew he had to fill the void left in his sons' lives and he immediately set about reorganising his public commitments to make more time to be with the boys, especially during the school holidays.

He was learning, like millions of ordinary single parents, to juggle the dual demands of parenting and a job.

In recent times, Charles has also, undoubtedly, focused on re-inventing himself and winning back the hearts of the nation.

The overwhelming, unprecedented and unpredictable public reaction to Diana's death shook the foundations of the House of Windsor.

But Charles has re-emerged from the trauma as a more relaxed, purposeful and likeable prince. His star-studded dinner party was sure to be a source of enjoyment