DRUGS INQUIRY CLEARS PRINCE HARRY

Prince Harry will not be charged over allegations of cannabis smoking and
underage drinking at a pub near his father's Highgrove estate, Wiltshire
police have confirmed.

Inquiries into allegations of late-night drinking and drug dealing at the
Rattlebone Inn, in Sherston, Wiltshire are now closed. Prince Charles
ordered his younger son to attend a drug rehabilitation clinic after he
admitted smoking cannabis and taking part in heavy under-age drinking sessions.

A police spokesman said: "We now consider the matter closed and there is no
further investigation to take place.

"None of the inquiries made revealed any involvement whatsoever by Prince
Harry or any other members of his family."

Parties A local man, John Holland, was fined UKP 1,200 after pleading
guilty to supplying cannabis and offering to supply cannabis, following the
investigation.

Magistrates heard how Holland was persistently asked for drugs by a Sunday
newspaper journalist, and finally supplied him with a bag of herbal
cannabis in the pub's toilets.

Wiltshire police said no further action against the licensee of the pub -
which has since changed hands - or the brewery is proposed. It was claimed
the prince drank at the pub while underage and smoked a joint at a
late-night party he held at Highgrove.

The drug-taking and drinking are understood to have happened during a
two-month period last summer, when Prince Harry was 16 and Prince Charles
and Prince William were both away from Highgrove.

'Sensitive handling' Prince Charles won praise for his sensitive handling
of Harry's admissions.

He sent his son to a south London rehabilitation clinic for a day so he
could talk to recovering addicts and see the dangers of drug use. Following
the allegations against Harry, police refused to rule out the possibility
of action against him Superintendent Mandy Evely, said he would be treated
"exactly the same way" as any other young person.

She said: "We want to stop young people getting involved with drugs and
alcohol."