Prince Charles visits stars at Prince's Trust awards

• Prince Charles%27 Prince%27s Trust charity machine keeps on churning
• He gets to meet stars when handing out Prince%27s Trust awards
• Chats with Helen Mirren%2C who%27s played the queen twice

Surely one of the best things about being the next British king is all the famous and fun people you get to meet while waiting around for the job to come open. This is the life of the Prince of Wales.

Whatever else he is, Prince Charles, 64, is a patient king-in-waiting and a champion philanthropist in the meantime, especially with his 37-year-old Prince's Trust charitable foundation, which has raised millions for good causes.

Today in London, at the Trust's annual Celebrate Success Awards, hosted in partnership with Samsung, Charles was there to distribute awards to honor the achievements of "disadvantaged young people supported by The Trust who have succeeded against the odds, improved their chances in life and had a positive impact on their local community."

An example of a winner: A young woman born deaf who was helped by the trust to overcome her self-doubts and achieve her goal of signing alongside performing artists.

These kinds of royal charitable events always attract stars, so there were plenty in line to shake hands and exchange a few words with Charles.

Among them: Damian Lewis, he of the ginger hair and the Golden Globe and Emmy for Showtime's Homeland; Idris Elba, the Golden-Globe-winning star of BBC America's Luther; and Helen Mirren, the woman who won an Oscar playing Charles' mother in The Queen and is now playing her again on stage in London.

They looked very cozy together in the pictures; wonder what they were chatting about?