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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Prince Harry sent to clinic after he admits drug abuse
Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter Sunday Telegraph
Sunday 13 Jan 2002 PRINCE HARRY has attended a drugs rehabilitation clinic at the request of his father after he admitted that he had taken cannabis on several occasions. He had experimented with the illegal drug and had also indulged in under-age drinking, close aides to the Prince of Wales admitted last night. Prince Harry, 17, told his father that he took cannabis at a secret party at Highgrove, Prince Charles's Gloucestershire home, and on other occasions when he was as young as 16. Prince Charles arranged for Prince Harry, who is third in line to the throne, to visit Featherstone Lodge rehabilitation centre, in Peckham, south London, senior royal officials said last night. At the centre, he was chaperoned by a "buddy" - a former heroin addict. He was also accompanied by Mark Dyer, a family friend, who was initially unaware that he was taking the young Prince to a rehabilitation centre. Senior aides to Prince Charles hope that the public and the media will look upon Prince Harry's admission and potential drug problem "sympathetically". One official said: "Unfortunately, this is something that many parents have to go through at one time or another." Prince Harry is said to have been part of a "fast", young, wealthy set in which cannabis taking and under-age drinking are not uncommon. It is likely that he has been frequently offered soft drugs and alcoholic drinks both at home and abroad during his school holidays. A senior official at St James's Palace admitted that Prince Charles had been aware of his son's drug-taking and was concerned. "We acknowledge that on several occasions last summer, Prince Harry experimented with cannabis. It is not that he had or has a serious problem, but he did take the drug. "Prince Harry did attend to Featherstone Lodge for a day to learn about the possible consequences of starting to take cannabis. The Prince of Wales thought it would be educational and shocking for him to attend," he said. "A large number of heroin users have, over the years and in the course of his work, told the Prince of Wales that they started on cannabis." Senior aides to Prince Charles conceded that Prince Harry and friends had been drinking after-hours at the Rattlebone Inn in Sherston, Wiltshire, near Highgrove, during school holidays last year. It was alleged last night that police were even called after a mock fight in which Prince Harry was said to have called a French employee a "fucking frog" and was ordered to leave the premises. Prince Harry was allegedly locked out of the pub by two friends during an after-hours pool session. During a scuffle, the Prince was asked to leave by the French chef and under-manager. Prince Harry was allegedly banned from the premises, but the landlord reportedly left the pub within weeks of the incident last January. The Prince of Wales was said to be worried about his younger son's behaviour during school holidays, when Harry often stays at Highgrove on his own. However, Harry was careful to behave at Eton College. A spokesman for Featherstone Lodge confirmed that Prince Harry had attended the centre. "We were pleased that Prince Harry came," he said. "We explained the programme that people go through to get over the addiction of heroin, cocaine and other drugs." A spokesman for St James's Palace said: "This is a serious matter that was resolved within the family and is now in the past and is closed." Prince Charles was famously once involved in a drinking episode when he was 14 years old.
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