HARRY'S TRIALS SHOCK BRITAIN

Angry Charles Sent Son To Rehab Centre

In a major embarrassment to Britain's Royal Family, Prince Harry -- the
17-year-old son of Prince Charles -- was taken to a rehabilitation centre
after admitting that he had illegally consumed alcohol and smoked marijuana.

The story, broken by Sunday's News of the World tabloid under the headline
Harry's Drug Shame and all but confirmed by the Royal Family, dominated
British print and broadcast news reports all day.

It also led to widespread speculation about what the development will mean
for the Royal Family and for Harry, who could conceivably be expelled from
Eton, the prestigious private school.

However, given how many parents have faced similar problems with their
teenagers, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President
George W. Bush, Charles also won praise for the way he had dealt with
Harry, who is third in line for the British throne.

Blair, whose son Euan, then 16, was arrested when police found him drunk
and vomiting in London in July 2000, said Charles, the heir to the British
throne, had faced a difficult situation.

"I know this myself," Blair said in an interview with the BBC.

"I think the way that Prince Charles and the Royal Family have handled it
is absolutely right and they have done it in a very responsible and, as you
would expect, in a very sensitive way for their child."

The problem drew comparisons to the one that Bush had faced last year, when
one of his twin teenage daughters was charged with using someone else's
identification to try to buy a drink at a restaurant in Texas.

The charge was eventually dropped after 19-year-old Jenna Bush showed proof
that she had performed community service, attended alcohol awareness
classes and paid a $100 US fine.

Marijuana use is illegal in Britain and the United States.

The legal drinking age is 18 in Britain and 21 in the state of Texas.

Harry drank with friends at a pub near Charles' Highgrove country estate in
western England and smoked marijuana with friends, the British media said
in front-page stories.

Charles sent Harry, then 16, to a drug rehabilitation centre in south
London for a day after learning of his son's drug use last summer.

Harry -- who was 12 when his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a
car accident in 1997 after divorcing Charles -- did not need therapy at
Featherstone Lodge, but spent a day there talking to recovering addicts.

Harry, a tall, athletic and wholesome-looking teenager, with an easygoing,
informal manner, has long been considered more high-spirited than his older
brother, Prince William, 19.

Asked about the news reports about Harry, Charles' office at St. James's
Palace said: "This was a serious matter which was resolved within the
family and is now in the past and closed."

The spokesman also told The Associated Press the Royal Family did not
dispute the reports about Harry's drinking and marijuana use or the
guidance he received at the rehab centre.

Harry left the Eton school for the weekend to spend time with his father at
Highgrove.