ROYAL SON VISITS REHAB CLINIC

Prince Harry Taken To Deter Drug Use

LONDON - Prince Charles took his youngest son, Harry, to a
rehabilitation clinic to show him the dangers of drug and alcohol
abuse, after the young prince said he had smoked marijuana and gotten
drunk, a Sunday newspaper reported.

``This was a serious matter which was resolved within the family and
is now in the past and closed,'' a representative of St. James Palace,
the official residence of Prince Charles, said Saturday, on condition
of anonymity.

According to the News of the World, Charles decided to take Harry to
the clinic after learning that the 17-year-old prince had smoked
marijuana and had also been drinking at a pub near Charles' Highgrove
country estate in western England.

Several other British newspapers, including the Sunday Mirror, the
Mail on Sunday and the Sunday People tabloids, carried reports about
Harry's alleged underage drinking at the pub.

Marijuana is illegal in Britain. The drinking age is 18. Harry was 16
when he told his father about the pot and alcohol use last summer, the
newspaper reported.

No suggestion has emerged that Harry needed treatment at the center.
He chatted with addicts during a daylong visit to learn about the
dangers of drugs.

The newspaper said Harry experimented with marijuana for two months at
Highgrove, in a rundown shed at a nearby pub and at private parties
hosted by friends.

Charles was often away on business. Harry's brother, Prince William,
was traveling during his year off before starting college, the
newspaper said.

Charles was alerted to his son's behavior by a Highgrove member of
staff, who noticed a strong smell of marijuana, the newspaper reported.

He confronted his younger son and took him the rehabilitation center
in south London.

An unidentified family friend told the newspaper that he believed that
Prince Harry had not used drugs since the tour.

Charles was involved in an underage-drinking episode. He was 14 when,
on a school sailing trip in Scotland, he and four other boys were
given permission to dock at a remote island. Charles led the boys to a
bar, where he ordered a cherry brandy.

Buckingham Palace staff furiously denied the incident, then conceded
it had occurred . Charles later said the words ``cherry brandy'' make
him wince.