PRINCE HARRY SENT TO REHAB OVER DRINK AND DRUGS

Prince Harry was sent to a drugs rehabilitation clinic after he admitted to
smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol, it emerged last night.

His father, the Prince of Wales, sent his son to Featherstone Lodge
Rehabilitation Centre in Peckham, south London. Prince Charles took the
decision after learning his son had taken drugs during private parties at
Highgrove, and had drunk alcohol at the nearby Rattlebone Inn in Sherston,
reports said.

These incidents are reported to have happened last June and July when Harry
was 16. It is believed that Prince Charles was alerted to the problem when
a senior member of staff noticed a smell of cannabis. In the late summer,
he visited the rehabilitation centre for what was intended to be a "short,
sharp shock".

Bill Puddicombe, the chief executive of Phoenix House Treatment Service For
Drug Dependency, confirmed Prince Harry's visit to the lodge. "The visit
was at the request of the Prince of Wales, who is our patron," he said.
"Prince Harry came for a couple of hours on a day in late summer and talked
to several people in recovery, heroin and cocaine addicts mostly.

"They told him what had happened in their lives, which must have been quite
harrowing for him. Prince Harry was friendly and relaxed and the residents
liked him and responded very warmly to him.

"I spoke to the Prince in November and was pleased to hear that Harry had
enjoyed his visit and learnt a lot.

"It was an opportunity for the Prince of Wales to teach Prince Harry about
our work and the consequences of taking drugs. Featherstone has helped an
enormous number of people, and we are pleased if the visit helped Prince
Harry too."

Prince Harry was reportedly shown the residential and detox areas and sat
in on a communal therapy group and heard stories of addicts moving from
cannabis to cocaine and heroin.

A spokesman for St James's Palace said last night: "This is a serious
matter which was resolved within the family, and is now in the past and
closed." It is expected there will be widespread praise for the Prince of
Wales's actions.

Prince Harry, now at Eton public school and planning to go to agricultural
college after his A-levels, is the latest in a line of young aristocrats
and politicians' children who have succumbed to drug taking. The Hon
Nicholas Knatchbull, a godson of Prince Charles, was in a rehabilitation
clinic last year. Camilla Parker Bowles's son, Tom and Lord Frederick
Windsor have also admitted using cocaine. Tony Blair's son, Euan, was found
drunk in Leicester Square in 2000 when he was 16.

The Mail on Sunday also reported last night that the prince was at the
centre of a Police investigation into after-hours drinking at the
Rattlebone Inn. He verbally abused a French employee and was ordered to
leave the premises, the report said. The landlord, David Baker, left the
pub within weeks of the incident.

The Prince of Wales was involved in an underage drinking episode when he
was 14. During a school sailing trip, he led his four friends to the Crown
Hotel on the Isle of Lewis. He asked for a cherry brandy, the first drink
that came to his mind.