After 142 days of self-imposed exile Kate Moss finally returned to England last week to face the music. Wearing a cream Prada trench coat, a black Alice band and a pair of outsized glasses — a present from her friend Sadie Frost — the 32-year-old supermodel arrived at Wellington House in London to be interviewed by senior police officers about her alleged drug use.

She had flown into the country earlier that day by private jet from Paris, where she had been working, and was chauffeur- driven to the appointment. She was accompanied by her lawyer, two bodyguards and a female companion, and she spent 90 minutes at the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Crime Operations headquarters before heading to her house in Little Farringdon, Oxfordshire, where she met up with her ex-boyfriend Jefferson Hack, the father of her three-year-old daughter Lila Grace.

Ever since pictures of Kate allegedly snorting the Class A drug cocaine with her then boyfriend, Babyshambles front man Pete Doherty, appeared in a national newspaper last September the model has kept away from the UK Working in New York when the story broke, Kate was reluctant to return to England, fearful that she might be convicted of illegal drug use. Not only was she concerned about the effect this could have on her career — a criminal conviction can make entry to the US difficult — but she was worried that she might be questioned by Social Services about her suitability as a mother.

But after a great deal of deliberation and consultations with her lawyers and agent Sarah Doukis, Kate was finally persuaded to return home to face the music. As it was, in the end she had little to worry about. After reading a prepared statement, she followed legal advice and refused to say anything beyond confirming her name and address. Having attended the meeting voluntarily and already admitting "full responsibility" for her actions, she was released without charge or caution.

Although she refused to make any comment as she left Wellington House, the look of relief on the model’s face was unmistakable — hardly surprising under the circumstances.

In the aftermath of the publication of the photographs apparently showing the Crydon-born model snorting "line after line" of cocaine in a London recording studio, the future looked bleak. Within weeks of the story breaking she lost lucrative contracts with Burberry and the high-street store H&M said to be worth millions of pounds, and many predicted that other fashion houses would follow suit and that her career was effectively over.

But with a resilience that has come to characterise her Kate bounced back. Within two weeks she had booked herself into a drugs rehabilitation programme at the Meadows clinic in Arizona, vowing to clean up her act. "Some people just thought it was a cynical move on Kate’s part," a fashion insider told HELLO! "They thought she just did it so she could keep her contracts and get the press off her back, but it wasn’t like that at all. She was doing it for herself, for her family and for Lila. The thought that she could lose her child really upset and frightened her. Her daughter is the most important thing in her life."

While she was undergoing treatment Kate apparently did a lot of soul searching. She is said to have thrown herself into the programme, attended all the therapy sessions and even turned her well-manicured hand to poetry in an attempt to make sense of her issues.

During this time Kate also came to the realisation that if she was to overcome her problems she needed to change her life around — and one of the first things she was advised to do %-as to look at her relationships.

Although Kate had always had a reputation as a party girl, both family and friends were deeply concerned when she got involved with 26-year-old Doherty, a self-confessed drug user who has convictions for use of both heroin and crack cocaine. And Kate herself came to realise that if she was to turn her life around then she could not be with someone who so openly and regularly used drugs.

Desperate to stay with him, after successfully completing her 28-day stint in rehab she paid for Pete to go into treatment too, but within days of arriving at the Meadows clinic the singer, who is currently in Pentonville prison awaiting trial for drug possession, packed up and left, claiming he was "bored". Within days Kate ended the relationship.

"That was really tough on her," a friend told HEILU. "Most models take drugs. I’m afraid that’s just part of the culture and Kate was no worse than anyone else in that world. So giving up drugs was easy for her but giving up Pete was another story. She really loved him. It amazed us all, but she really did. I think after Johnny [Depp], he was her first real big love."

Broken-hearted but determined to get through her recovery, Kate surrounded herself with a small, closeknit group of people she knew she could trust and who would support her through this period. Among them were her mother Linda and her ex Jefferson Hack, who flew out with their daughter Lila to visit Kate when she was at the Meadows. She has also spent a lot of time with ex-Hollyoaks actress Daninia Taylor, who has recently been in rehab herself and has been staying with Kate in LA, and her old friend the photographer Mario Testino, with whom she celebrated her 32nd birthday two weeks ago. Jack Osbourne, another who has suffered drugs problems, is also a close confidante.

Over the New Year Kate embarked on a brief romance with 23-year-old Jamie Burke, a former public schoolboy with aspirations to make it in the music business. Friends say the relationship was just "a bit of fun" and that Kate had no intention of taking the relationship further. According to them she is happy for the moment being in the company of family and friends and isn’t ready for a serious relationship.

"If she does get a boyfriend, she knows now she can’t be with someone like Pete. It’s just not good for her. Part of the whole recovery process is sorting out the wheat from the chaff," the friend says. "They always advise you not to see people that you associate with your addiction. For Kate that’s meant keeping her distance from Pete and a lot of people on the London scene."

It had been reported that Kate had fallen out with best friend Sadie Frost and that the once inseparable pair were no longer talking.

"That’s not true," says the friend. "Kate hasn’t seen her because she hasn’t been in the country, and Sadie has to be in London with the kids. Sadie loves Kate and thinks she’s doing really well. But it is true that Kate wants to keep away from London for the time being. She’s packed up the house and will stay in the country when she is here. It’s not that she just wants to keep away from the party scene — she’s still going out, after all — but being in the country gives her privacy. In London she’s hounded by the paps."

But it’s not just the British paparazzi Kate has to worry about. Last week in Paris, celebrating her birthday with a group of friends, Kate and her old friend jean-Yves le Fur, Princess Stephanie’s former fiance, were hounded by a dozen photographers as they left the Ritz hotel. In scenes reminiscent of the car chase involving the late Princess of Wales and Dodi Faved, the paparazzi followed Kate’s car as it left the hotel. The situation got so out of hand the pair were forced to pull over and hide out in a local police station until the photographers went away.

The constant press attention is said to be the key reason why Kate is thinking of making a fresh start in California. She is currently renting an exclusive mansion in Malibu that was once owned by Elizabeth Taylor, complete with its own pool, gym, cinema and spa. But according to friends, it is not the mod cons that attracted Kate to the seafront mansion but the privacy it offers.

"Look, when your next-door neighbour is Brad Pitt and you’ve got James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) down the road, who really cares if Kate Moss walks down the street! It’s just not a big deal like it is here in London."

Kate is said to be so serious about settling in LA that she is already, househunting in Malibu and has enrolled Lila, who is currently staying out there with her grandmother Linda, in a local kindergarten.

As for those who predicted that Kate’s career was all but over following the drugs allegations, nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, her star is on the rise. Since she left rehab she has worked non-stop fronting campaigns for Roberto Cavalli and Longchamp and modelling for Stella McCartney. And this month she graces the cover of the style bible Vogue, much to the delight of Alexandra Shulman, the magazine’s editor, who enthuses: "She looks fantastic!"