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UK: Charles forces Harry into drink rehab clinic
Camillo Fracassini Scotland on Sunday
Sunday 13 Jan 2002 PRINCE Charles forced his son Harry to attend a rehabilitation clinic after discovering that he was drinking and smoking cannabis, it was revealed last night. The Prince of Wales sent the teenager to the clinic as a form of 'short, sharp, shock' treatment to show him where his drug-taking and drinking might lead unless he reformed his wayward lifestyle. Harry was just 16 when he was forced to visit the Featherstone Lodge Rehabilitation Centre in the deprived district of Peckham, south London, where he met heroin and cocaine addicts. The prince is said to have been introduced to drinking and cannabis smoking by a group of older youths he befriended at a pub close to Prince Charles' country home at Highgrove. But when a furious Charles learned of the drug misuse going on at parties in his own home he took the immediate decision to arrange a salutary visit to the clinic. It has also emerged that the prince, who is now 17, was a regular drinker at the Rattlebone Inn, near Highgrove. A particularly boisterous drinking session at the Wiltshire pub involving Prince Harry led to a police investigation into late-night drinking on the premises. In January last year, it is alleged Prince Harry took part in a mock fight with two friends during an after-hours pool-playing session. It has been claimed that the Royal, who is third in line to the throne, called a French member of staff a "f***ing fro", after he was told to leave. The pub's new landlady last night said she had never heard of the employee but earlier confirmed Prince Harry had been barred. Concerns about possible breaches of licensing laws were raised by the prince's royal protection officers and passed to local police. Prince Harry was banned from the premises and the landlord, David Baker, left the pub within weeks of the incident in January last year. Emma Carter-Williams, the pub's landlady, said: "Everyone knows Prince Harry's barred but I don't want to talk about it. He's not the only one." Last night a spokesman for St James's Palace said: "This is a serious matter which was resolved within the family, and is now in the past and closed." Downing Street declined to comment. Prince Charles is said to have been keen that the matter should be brought to the attention of the public so that lessons could be learned from his son's behaviour. He told aides: "There is no point in hiding the truth. These are the facts - let people make their own judgment." Prince Harry had been left to his own devices at Highgrove while his brother Prince William was abroad on his gap year in South America and Prince Charles was working. The Prince of Wales, who is deeply worried about his youngest son's behaviour during school holidays, has spoken to Prince Harry's Eton housemaster. Sir John Stevens, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, is said to have been kept informed of the sensitive police inquiry into the incident. A Scotland Yard spokesman said last night: "Our protection officers have not made any reports of security concerns and security has not been compromised." Last week Prince William caused controversy when he swore at a photographer and forced him into a ditch as he returned from a hunting trip. He was accused of telling the freelance photographer to "f***ing piss off". Prince Charles found himself embroiled in a row in his youth after visiting a pub when he was just 14. During a school sailing trip to Stornoway, he ordered a cherry brandy in a local pub. Prince Charles has since said the words cherry brandy make him "wince". The incident attracted international attention, and the teenage Royal was smuggled back to school on the floor of a car.
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