PARTY GIRL IN WILLIAM'S CIRCLE SNORTED COCAINE

ANOTHER friend of the circle with whom Prince William associates has
been seen taking cocaine at a fashionable London party. The friend was
named yesterday as Izzy Winkler, a 22-year-old socialite at Edinburgh
University.

A fellow party-goer said: "I saw Izzy sniffing cocaine from a
tabletop. This is not telling tales. The complacency about the set who
have appointed themselves William's friends deserves to be challenged
before some terrible accident occurs."

Winkler, in her third year of a philosophy degree, is friends with
Laura Parker Bowles, the sister of Tom Parker Bowles, one of William's
most trusted friends, who admitted taking cocaine last year.

Winkler was at a private house party in London last summer and was
seen snorting the drug with a group of friends. "She was in very high
spirits and held court around the table," the source said. It is not
clear who supplied the drug. Winkler was also at an Earls Court party
a week ago where cocaine was openly used.

Among Edinburgh University's fashionable student set, Winkler is known
as the best party-giver in town. Friends say she has sealed her
reputation by running a twice-monthly nightclub called Flare. One of
Winkler's former boyfriends is the Earl of Mornington who recently ran
the infamous Assassins club at Oxford University.

Her friendship with Edward van Cutsem, a godson of the Prince of Wales
and a shooting friend of William, has brought her into the prince's
circle.

Winkler was returning from Switzerland this weekend and was
unavailable for comment.

Several of William's friends have already admitted taking illegal
drugs. William, still at Eton, often spends weekends in London with
this group, many of whom are in their early twenties.

The disclosure comes as Scotland Yard officers responsible for
William's protection have sought "guidance" from their superiors about
drug-taking around the prince.

Sources close to the Yard's royalty protection division, responsible
for guarding against terrorist attack and kidnapping, claim the
officers had asked their superiors last month for "clarification" in
the light of alleged drug taking. Some suggest they have been
instructed to arrest anyone who attempts to sell or pass drugs to the
prince.

One source said: "It's come about because of his liking for the high
life. I understand the junior officers have asked for a clarity of
direction and purpose. They want some direction from above on what
they are meant to do.

"If they are in this scenario, do they stay, do they go, do they nick
them? Their primary role is to protect the individual. That means
getting him away from physical harm. Drugs would include harm. So your
immediate [aim] is to remove him from the threat and the potential
embarrassment."

The source, who asked not to be identified, emphasised that no
officers were suggesting that William himself had taken drugs, or
condoned the activity.

Asked whether police were aware of drug-taking around William, he
said: "It's not him. It's among [some of] those that are around him
and possibly then those around those.

"One or two have let the side down. His true friends would not
embarrass him, they know the score well enough."

At any time William is protected by at least two armed bodyguards and
a team of officers is permanently assigned to safeguard his security.

The source, who has inside knowledge of the royal family, said he
understood they were concerned most about cocaine. "This issue has
been around a little while and is obviously being sorted. I'm quite
confident they will deal with it appropriately," he said.

Scotland Yard sought to play down suggestions of concerns about
drug-taking around the prince.

A spokesman said: "We continually monitor the safety of all the
principals we protect to ensure they receive the appropriate level of
protection. But we are not prepared to discuss the matter further."

The Sunday Times revealed last year that Tom Parker Bowles, son of
Camilla Parker Bowles and a friend of William, had taken cocaine at a
party. Five years ago he was given a police caution for possessing
ecstasy and cannabis.

William has been seen in nightclubs with Parker Bowles, and is known
to have visited the K-bar, popular with London's fashionable rich.

Last September Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of Prince Michael of
Kent, admitted taking cocaine. He said: "It is very difficult to avoid
getting into this sort of thing when you move in these circles."

Windsor's cousin, Lord Nicholas Windsor, was cautioned by police in
1988 after officers found cannabis in St James's Park.

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, daughter of Prince Charles's closest friends
Charles and Patty, checked herself into a clinic in America last year
to fight cocaine addiction.