(Daily Mail)
Updated: 2007-08-04 10:53

The contrast could not have been greater. As a private jet carrying Kate Moss and a group of friends touched down in Marbella this week, Pete Doherty was holed up in a dingy flat fashioning a crude crack pipe out of a miniature whisky bottle.

Blissfully unencumbered by logic, her ex-boyfriend was, between puffs of cocaine, regaling those in his company with assurances that his junkie days were a thing of the past. Crack, it seems, doesn't count.

Meanwhile, 1,000 miles away (literally), Kate's choice of pick-me-up provided a diametrical contrast.

In place of class A drugs and strong liquor, she was partaking in nothing stronger than goji juice and acai berries — the very latest in fashionable super foods.

What a difference a month makes in the troubled life of Britain's most famous - or infamous - supermodel.

Kate Moss and Pete Doherty: Leading very different lives

For the Mail can reveal that a concerted campaign of rehabilitation has been mounted by Kate's family and close advisers — and it is already beginning to bear fruit.

Her mother, Linda, as well as her long-standing modelling agent and mentor Sarah Doukas and a host of legal and PR advisers are leaving nothing to chance as she emerges from the wreckage of a monumentally destructive liaison.

"It's not an exaggeration to say Kate's life is at stake here," says a source close to the family.

"Pete's like a drug to her. It's as if she's addicted to him and even though she knows he's bad news, she can't help being drawn to him.

"Now she's finally kicked him out, she's come to her senses and realised her life is a mess. It's like she's woken up after a nightmare. So she's on a campaign to sort herself out and get healthy — and everyone is clubbing together to make sure it succeeds."

One impeccably placed source told the Mail that the change wrought in Kate by the break-up had been "startling".

"She's drinking two litres of water a day, having lots of facials and beauty treatments, cutting back massively on the booze and doing her best to get to bed early," says the source.

"That's unheard of for Kate. She always did whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted and still looked amazing. But something fundamental has changed."

Indeed, whisper it quietly but the queen of effortless rock'n'roll chic has even broken the habit of a lifetime and started. . .working out.

An old friend of Kate's, with impeccable rock'n'roll credentials of his own, told the Mail this week: "You wouldn't recognise her — she's even been going to the gym, which you'd never have caught her doing before.

"The last few weeks have been hard for her. Breaking up with Pete hit her so hard. But every time I see her now, she's a little bit better, a little bit brighter in the eyes. She's getting back on form again and it's great to see."

The strategy — described by some friends co-opted to help out as Operation Phoenix — hinges on a complete break from the past.

Kate has already burned a stack of gifts, love letters and song lyrics given to her by Pete during their relationship.

Caution prevails, however, as there have been many false dawns when Kate appeared to have jettisoned Pete only to go back to him — which drove her family, and mother Linda in particular, to their wits' end.

To prevent history repeating itself, Kate has been placed under an informal 24-hour 'Pete watch' by friends, to make sure she doesn't "fall off the wagon" and phone him.

She has had the locks changed at her North London home and has told friends she is selling it to banish the bad memories. Since splitting from Doherty after an argument four weeks ago, she has not spent a night at home and has changed her phone numbers.

"She hasn't been on her own either," says a friend who has spent time with her during this self-imposed exile. "One of us has always been with her because she needs support. A couple of days after Pete left, she phoned him and started singing into his answer phone.

"It was a moment of weakness which she massively regrets and since then she's begged everyone to help her stay away from him. He's been phoning all of us, trying to get through to Kate, but she's told us not to even tell her when he's called. She can stop him from sweet-talking his way back in."

Kate's regret will no doubt have become all the greater since Pete sold the tale of her lovestruck crooning (the song was Moon River, apparently) to a tabloid newspaper.

In a rambling interview this week, he described her as a "nasty old rag", accused her of physically abusing him by kicking him in the head and said that by the end, their relationship had become "like the Vietnam war".

Thankfully for Kate — who was so infuriated by his betrayal she hurled a glass at a wall and smashed up a treasured picture — she has been surrounded by support.

She has stayed at the Surrey mansion of Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood (who loaned her a vintage Rolls- Royce for the duration of her stay) and with celebrity hairdresser James Brown, among others. Sadie Frost and the actor Rhys Ifans have also been at her side.

And while her representatives have remained resolutely silent — refusing yesterday even to discuss her upcoming professional commitments — the Mail understands plans are in place for a major career push when she returns from Spain.

She is preparing to launch a hair care range with James Brown, who has styled her hair for years, and retail billionaire Sir Philip Green is keen to continue working with her after the success of her Topshop range of clothing.

And despite recent barbs about her allegedly declining looks, a well-placed source says she will soon be modelling in a high profile campaign for Roberto Cavalli, among others.

"She's finally woken up and is taking much better care of herself now," says the source. "She'll be around for a long time to come — you'll see."

There is, however, one nagging concern, with potentially devastating consequences. Throughout their union, Pete was frequently seen with a camera in his hand, and the Mail understands he has photographs and footage which Kate is "extremely worried" could find its way into the public domain.

Given that he has spoken to the press already in return for money, her concerns are well founded.

Precisely what Pete has images of remains unclear. But it is understood that Kate's circle have been sufficiently concerned to discuss the prospect of asking him to sign a confidentiality agreement.

The problem with this plan is that Pete is now regarded as a 'loose cannon', negotiating deals for interviews not through his management or record company, but rather a loose collection of affiliates with whom he whiles away the hours drinking and taking drugs.

"It's a tense time for everybody around Kate at the moment," says the family friend. "Every morning they're on tenterhooks, wondering what will be in the paper. Pete just can't be trusted."

Kate also has more pressing concerns. Despite making great strides in the past month, friends say she remains in the early stages of recovery from the traumatic break-up.

One close female friend says: "She's not just mourning the loss of a boyfriend, it's the loss of a dream. She really wants another baby and thought Pete would be the dad. Now she's back to square one."

Another friend, who had dinner with her in a top London hotel last month, said that while she was "generally fine", there were "definitely moments of melancholy".

"She didn't actually say the word, but it was clear that she's still very much in love with Pete,' says the friend.

"She seemed to think she was teaching him a lesson by sending him to Coventry. She told me: 'This is just the shock he needs — he can't handle it when the people he loves refuse to talk to him.'

"She kept going out of the restaurant to smoke and that was when she looked sad, like a 14-year-old who's been dumped by the coolest lad in school."

But she is not a schoolgirl — she is a 33-year-old woman with a young daughter to support and a multi-million-pound business resting heavily on her slight shoulders.

For now, she can lick her wounds at her luxurious hideaway in Marbella. But she has not become one of the most highly paid models in history without a tough streak, and the Mail understands she has been keeping a weather eye on her business concerns for the past month.

Two of the principal figures offering her advice are, as usual, staying out of the limelight: her father, Peter, and Jefferson Hack, the respected publisher and father of her four-year- old daughter Lila Grace.

Peter is a director of her sole company, Skate Enterprises Ltd., and her anchor in the midst of many a storm.

He has kept an eye on the financial side of her business — which is due for another substantial injection of cash from her lucrative Topshop fashion range — while mum Linda and Kate's friends concentrate on her emotional recovery.

"Peter's role is as a listener," says a close family friend. "But even he has made it clear to Kate that she needs to forget about Pete once and for all. And when her dad sticks his neck out like that, Kate pays attention."

So at face value it seems the fatal attraction between Kate and Pete has breathed its last. That is certainly what her friends and family would have you believe.

Symbolically, Kate has given her former lover the epithet 'slug' (because "he's slimy and leaves a trail of mess in his wake"), preferring not to utter his name.

Pete, meanwhile, is due back in court next week following his arrest in May for possession of drugs. His spiral towards lonely oblivion continues, while Kate is surrounded by loved ones determined to shield her from his negative influence.

Yet for all their good intentions, logic dictates that one day Kate will meet Pete. And when that happens, given the sorry track record of their relationship, who would bet against grim history repeating itself?