CHARLES WAS SHOCKED BY HOW OFTEN HARRY USED CANNABIS

PRINCE HARRY Experimented With Cannabis And Took Part In Regular
Underage Drinking Sessions At A Pub Called The Rattlebone Inn.

Over a period of two months he used the drug on several occasions,
smoking cannabis at Highgrove, at friends' private parties in the
Gloucestershire area and in the pub's rundown outhouse.

Harry also drank in late-night lock-ins at the Rattlebone, in nearby
Sherston, with parties afterwards in the basement of his Highgrove
home.

It was during one of these parties that he and a pal named Guy Pelly
took the drug. Harry was careful to confine his use to the outside
areas only.

The first hint that something was seriously wrong came when a senior
member of staff noticed a strong smell of cannabis and alerted Prince
Charles. When he discovered the extent of his son's involvement, he
was deeply concerned.

A family friend explained: "Since Princess Diana died, there has been
a family rule that when Prince Harry is home from school, his father
is at home at Highgrove. But last summer was different. Prince Harry
was getting older, Prince Charles was often away on business in
London and Prince William was on his gap year.

"So for the first time Prince Harry found himself occasionally at
home alone at Highgrove and was encouraged to have friends round to
keep him company. During a two-month period covering June and July
2001, Prince Harry fell in with a bad lot at the Rattlebone Inn. Guy
Pelly, who has a drink-drive conviction and is a student at
Cirencester University, was the worst influence.

Alert

"There are so many fights at the Rattlebone Inn. In fact, earlier
last year Prince Harry was involved in an incident after a fight
broke out over out-of-hours drinking and was barred from the inn for
a while.

"But unfortunately he was soon welcomed back with open arms.

"It was Pelly who introduced Harry to cannabis in June last year. He
encouraged Harry to experiment with the drug at a private party in
Tetbury and, on one occasion, in the shed at the back of the
Rattlebone Inn. It wasn't long before Pelly would take drugs into
Highgrove so he could smoke it at parties there.

"Harry would never smoke it inside the house, though on one occasion
he went outside for a joint.

"And though he'd only ever smoke at private parties or in front of
close friends, it wasn't long either before a senior member of
Highgrove staff alerted Prince Charles to what as going on when he
wasn't there.

"Charles was very calm, he didn't confront Harry aggressively but sat
him down and asked him to tell the truth. Harry immediately confirmed
that in the past two months he'd been smoking cannabis on several
occasions, that he'd brought friends back to Highgrove parties and
that he'd been drinking a lot.

"Charles then consulted with Prince William about the situation.
Charles felt that the problem had to be dealt with. He's been a
patron of many drug charities over the years and although he knows
that many people say there's no harm smoking cannabis, as a parent he
felt he couldn't leave it at that.

"Through his experience as patron he's fully aware of how easy it is
to become hooked on cannabis and how, if a person's character is
susceptible, it will often to lead to experimenting with harder, more
serious drugs.

"Although Charles didn't scream and shout at Harry, he did gently
question him, asking, 'Are these really the right people to be
hanging around with? Are these really the right things for you to be
doing at 16 in your position?' Harry was very mature about it and
quickly realised the error of his ways."

The friend continued: "Despite this, Charles was so concerned that he
decided swift action needed to be taken. About three years ago he'd
opened a new centre for drug rehabilitation called Featherstone Lodge
in Peckham. It's part of a drug charity called Phoenix House. He's
been a patron of it for many years. Charles asked William to suggest
to Harry that perhaps he should spend some time there to familiarise
himself with the dangers of drugs. It's not that Charles felt Harry
needed treatment but he definitely need a shock."

When Harry had spent time listening to the horror stories of addicts
who had progressed from cannabis to cocaine and heroin, he returned
to Highgrove for a heart-to-heart that he will never forget.

"Back at home Harry, Charles and William talked and talked," the
friend continued. "He has never done drugs since.

"Prince William has also talked to various trusted family friends who
were told to keep an eye out for Harry. Prince Charles always makes
sure he is now home when Harry is back from school, so even if Harry
goes out for the night, when he comes home, his father is there."

A senior aide to the Prince of Wales confirmed: "Although his friends
smoked at parties at Highgrove, Harry was mindful only to smoke in
private with close friends in the local area. He never smoked
cannabis inside Highgrove but in the grounds

"But his friends, including Guy Pelly, did smoke there and that led
to staff complaints which in turn led to the prince confronting his
son. When the prince found out he was very calm and accepted that
this is a normal part of teenage experimentation. But the level of
cannabis use and the underage drinking that Harry had been taking
part in during the period gave him cause for concern."

Refused

Another party guest was a man named James Mullholland. Both he and
Pelly are frowned on by Charles and St James's Palace courtiers.

The aide continued: "Harry was asked to visit Phoenix House's
=46eatherstone Lodge hard detox centre for heroin addicts in Peckham.
The prince knew that Harry attending group therapy on the evils of
drugs would educate him away from the fashionable assumption that
cannabis use is OK and doesn't lead to harder, more serious drugs.

"For his 16-year-old son the Prince of Wales refused to accept that
is the case. He wants Harry to learn from hard experience. These are
hard heroin addicts and consequences of their drug abuse shocked
Harry into realising that what he was doing was not the right path to
go down and that the people he was mixing with were not the right
friends to have."

Although Harry was accompanied by his friend and aide Mark Dyer, the
youngster's police bodyguard waited outside during the sessions.

The senior aide added: "Prince Charles himself said, 'There's no
point hiding the truth. These are the facts. Let people make their
own judgment'."

Besides making sure Harry visited the Phoenix House centre, Charles
also banned him from visiting the Rattlebone Inn again. The Prince of
Wales also alerted Harry's headmaster at Eton to the problem. Harry
has always been careful not to conduct this kind of behaviour at
school. Harry's weekend passes from the college were immediately
limited. Over Christmas Harry was instructed to spend the entire
break from school with his elder brother and father.

"William is such a steadying influence," the family friend added.
"The two of them have had detailed discussions and Harry has changed
his ways. He now understands the very real perils of drug-taking and
excessive drinking. He has a lot to be thankful for. If his brother
and his father didn't care so much about him, there might well have
been a different end to this story."

"Prince William is very anti-drugs and a clean-living young man with
a great sense of duty. He is a good influence on his brother, who is
more easily led by his peer group."