Patrick Cooke met Tom Jones in Cardiff an hour before his homecoming concert. Thousands of middle-aged women fumed with envy.

History books may show that Wales has been a principality since the Middle Ages, but tell that to the hoards who came from far and wide to hail a king on October 10.

The word had gone forth, to the vowel-less towns and villages scattered across the valleys, and the faithful made their way en masse to Cardiff, capital of their ancient land. They began gathering outside the venue of his coronation at around 7 p.m., many of them bearing gifts to shower upon their king - saucy knickers, pantyhose and thongs. All hail Sir Tom Jones, the 69-year-old king of Welsh hearts.

"It's always special to be back, not least because I know half of the people in the audience," said Tom Jones, backstage at the Cardiff International Arena less than an hour before going on stage.

I had arrived for the interview half-an-hour early, full of child-like enthusiasm that was clearly shared by the expectant crowd milling outside in the fresh autumn breeze.

Predictably, the crowd was dominated by groups of women over the age of 40, glammed up as though 'The Voice' had invited each of them for a private performance. But there were men too, and pockets of younger fans perhaps drawn by his string of chart hits in the last decade that have covered a remarkable array of genres.

Or, like me, maybe they just wanted to witness the ability of one man to temporarily reverse the effects of menopause in thousands of women.

Jones is running late, my contact informed me by telephone. I should collect the tickets and sit in the arena until he is ready. Oh, and the tickets are on the front row, so just come to the side of the stage when the call comes. If one thing is guaranteed to turn Jones fans the colour of Snowdonia with envy, it is front row tickets at one of his concerts. A thousand eyes bore into me as I sat waiting patiently for the call. Gangs of women nudged each other and spoke in venomous hushed tones about my worthiness to sit in such a coveted position.

So the call, when it came, proved to be a blessed relief. Leaving the ill wishes of the faithful behind, I was escorted backstage, through a maze of corridors full of people looking busy and talking into headpieces. Then my escort motioned us to stop and knocked at a door. "Come in," said an unmistakable voice. The door opened and there, clutching a bottle of water and looking slightly out of breath as though he had been through a vigorous vocal warm-up, was Sir Tom Jones.

"Welcome," he said in a rich Welsh accent, untamed by 35 years of living in Los Angeles in the former home of Dean Martin. He motioned me towards two black leather sofas in his dressing room as the door closed; leaving just Jones, me, and his superbly tanned assistant Don Archer in the room.

Despite expressing delight at being back in his homeland, Jones began by pouring cold water on recent rumours in the British press that he is about to end his long exile in the US and return to live in the UK permanently.

"It was a misquote. I was asked if I ever thought about moving back, and I replied that I always think about it, it's always on my mind, but there are no definite plans at the moment."

Jones may not literally know half of the audience, but there is a good chance he has met or performed for many of them before. Born and raised in the industrial town of Pontypridd, 19km north of Cardiff, Jones has loved to sing for as long as he can remember. Struck down with TB at the age of 12, he was saved from the coalmines by weak lungs, something that would surprise anyone who has heard him belt out Delilah on stage.

He left school at 15 and spent his days working on building sites and his nights wowing the locals in the working men's clubs of south Wales. Has his experience of the 'real world' helped him to appreciate his success?

"Definitely. It puts things in perspective when you know what it's like to work for a living. Showbusiness to me is a pleasure, because I love to sing, so I'm getting paid for something I love to do. That's the best thing in life."

His reputation as both a performer and a sex symbol blossomed in south Wales. In 1964, songwriter, producer and fellow Welshman Gordon Mills took notice and brought him to London. There, the man formerly known as Thomas Woodward became Tom Jones, and he was asked to record a demo of a song co-written by Mills for Sandie Shaw. That song was Its Not Usual.

Jones recognised it was a potential hit and wanted it for himself, "but my manager told me he could write more of those, although he never did!" Jones recalls.

After much discussion, it was decided that Jones should record the demo with brass. But although he nailed the song, it was still submitted to Shaw because it had been promised to her.

"When she heard it, she said that whoever is singing this song, it's his song, I can't sing it like that. So thank God she turned it down."

Jones released the track in early 1965 and it quickly went to number one. Suddenly, he was famous and couldn't walk the streets without being mobbed. But if his big break had never arrived, if the legend of Jones never crossed the Welsh border, would he still be singing today in his local pubs and social clubs?

"More than likely, I'd be doing it for the love of it. But if it hadn't happened and I was still singing locally, I'd be asking 'how come?' It's daunting to think about, but thank God (he knocks twice on the table) I made it. Although, I would still sing even if I had a lesser voice - it's the thing I have always loved to do.

His reputation quickly spread across the Atlantic, where everyone assumed he was black (because of his soulful voice, not because Americans assume Welsh people are black!) It's Not Unusual entered the US top 10 and before long, Jones was hanging out with the likes of Elvis and Frank Sinatra. For Jones, who had grown up idolising Elvis and 1950s rock 'n' roll, this was a dream come true.

"When I met Elvis, he said 'how the hell do you sing like that?' and I said 'you're partly to blame'. Then I heard as time went on that I was rubbing off on him, and I could tell that I was in his approach and songs that he had later on. But I knew that he loved the way I sang, so it was a huge compliment."

Did the king from Memphis pass on any useful advice to his Celtic comrade? Or was it the other way around?

"Well, he asked what kind of drugs I was taking to keep sane, and I said 'well I don't take drugs, that's why I am sane'. This was in the late 1960s. He said he'd tried everything just to survive, because fame had affected him that much. But he never took drugs in front of me. He'd disappear into the bedroom, and then he'd come back out into the suite, and you could tell he'd taken something because he wasn't drinking."

But Elvis clearly thought that he and Jones were cut from the same cloth, and when the Welshman recorded an album of standard swing songs, Elvis let him know what he thought.

"He said 'we don't do that, we leave that to Frank Sinatra'. And I thought 'he said we - wow!' And then when I met Frank Sinatra, he told me I was a great singer, and he was trying to persuade me to sing the kind of stuff he did. So I had Elvis pulling me one way and Frank pulling me the other, and I thought 'this is tremendous'. But I told them both at different times that I like to do it all."

This fondness for doing it all is probably the reason for Jones' continued success. Although his popularity nosedived for a while in the 1970s and 1980s while he fulfilled a contract to record five country albums, his fortunes were revived when his son Mark Woodward became his manager in 1986 following the death of his old mentor Gordon Mills.

Jones described his son's role in his remarkably long career as "very important", and Woodward is credited with reviving his father's image, making him ditch the tight trousers and fixing him up with trendy producers.

Fast forward to 1999 and the release of the album Reload, which may well account for the presence of younger fans in the audience. The album, which featured collaborations with some of the biggest artists of the time including Robbie Williams, Stereophonics and The Cardigans, spawned a string of worldwide hits including Sex Bomb, Mama Told Me Not To Come and Burning Down The House. Although Jones had steadily regained credibility following his successful cover of Prince's Kiss in 1988, it was Reload that made him cool to the post-Brit Pop generation.

"It felt great that so many artists wanted to collaborate. It always feels great whenever an artist comes forward and says that I've influenced them in some way, or they'd like to do something with me."

Who did he enjoy collaborating with the most on that album?

"I liked the Stereophonics, because they're a great bunch of guys. We come from the same place and our sense of humour is almost identical - they're a younger version of me really."

The collaborations have continued since Reload. In 2002, he released the Mr Jones album, which was produced by Wyclef Jean.

The Welsh singer is not sure why so many contemporary artists are lining up to collaborate with him, "but thank God they want to and they think I'm hip enough, one thing people will never do is record with someone who will not make them look good".

But despite his considerable success over the past decade, Jones' fan base is undoubtedly dominated by women over the age of 40, drawn by his booming voice, strutting stage presence and classic hits. How do they feel about his recent hits, including a 2006 dance hit with chicane entitled Stoned in Love?

"Oh they love it. Because I sing the way I sing, and I haven't really changed. The fans have told me that it doesn't matter what song I sing, as long as I'm singing it and I haven't changed the sound of my voice. I think they know that I wouldn't do something I didn't like."

So after a career spanning five decades, and hits in almost every genre, which song gives him the greatest pleasure to perform?

"That's a difficult one, but the most important one is It's Not Usual, because that changed my life. I will always do that song in my concerts because it's the most important."

Has the perspective that comes from experience changed the way he sings some of his older songs?

"Mmmm, no my attitude is the same, but lower end of my voice is much fuller than when I was young."

Is his voice better now?

"It's different. The energy is the same, but I can hit low notes that I wouldn't be able to do when I was young. But when I sing Delilah, people tell me it's like I'm singing it for the first time. The fire is still there."

The fire may be there, and so are the legions of female fans, but Jones is not getting any younger. He has allowed his once famously dyed hair to turn white, and although he admits to having plastic surgery, his face is well lined and his eyes are hooded. So why did he stop dyeing his iconic curly locks?

"Every Christmas when I have some time off, I stop dyeing my hair. Over the years it was coming out with bits of grey here and there, and I didn't like that. But then last Christmas when I let it go, it came out white, and I thought 'that looks good'. And that was it."

Jones is in the middle of an exhausting tour of North America and Europe to promote his latest album 24 Hours. He was forced to cancel a string of US gigs in July because of bronchitis, and he will be performing almost nonstop until the tour ends in Malta on November 15. But despite the rigours of life on the road, the Welshman is not even thinking of stopping touring.

"I just love to sing. The only downside at all is travelling, but being on stage is a tremendous feeling and I don't want that to go away - I dread the day when I have to retire. My voice will dictate when that will happen, but I have absolutely no plans to stop. When I do stop, it won't be by choice."

One of the most astonishing things about Jones is that although he has always been a knickers magnet, and has been the protagonist in countless kiss-and-tell stories, he has been married to his wife Linda since the age of 16. What is the secret of their long marriage?

"Firstly you've got to love one another, that's the most important thing. I think the only time you should get married is when you don't even think about anything else, it's got to be that strong, and it was with us. And we liked the same things, like 50s rock 'n' roll."

But Jones' past infidelities often made their way into the newspapers, including an alleged two-year fling with Mary Wilson from the Supremes. And then there was the paternity case with model Katherine Berkery who insisted Jones was the father of her son. Has his wife come close to leaving him?

"She would never want to leave me and I would never want to leave her. It's never come up, although she's got a bit ticked off from time to time."

His wife shies away from the limelight and Jones says she does not like parties or socialising. Does it feel like he has two different lives - one at home with his wife and one on the road as an international superstar?

"Oh yeah, and it works. In a marriage, some people try and change the other person to the way they are, and I don't think that works because one person is going to be under pressure. So I've never done that to my wife, and she's never done it to me, because she knows I have to sing."

Around 20 minutes have passed and Don Archer is glancing at his watch - Jones has a job to do. There is time to briefly touch on his concert in Malta, a country which the Welshman has heard is "bootiful". What can the Maltese fans expect?

"What you see tonight is what I'll be doing there. It's a mixture of stuff, new stuff that I've recorded, but the big hits are still there. I'm really looking forward to coming there, and I hope the fans enjoy what I do because an entertainer is there to please and I'll definitely do my best to do that."

Having seen the concern I can attest that the voice and stage presence are as strong as ever, and the crowd absolutely loved it. As for throwing knickers, the security guards were on high alert; Jones' management have tried to move him away from that image.

But they could not hold back the tide in the second half of the concert, and pieces of underwear were thrown with impunity. One middle-aged woman at the bar even gave me frilly knickers from her pocket when I told her I was on the front row, pleading with me to throw them for her. Did I? No. I've saved them for his Malta gig.

Tom Jones will be performing at the MFCC Ta Qali on November 15. Tickets are available from www.nngpromotions.com.