cannabisnews.com: Prince's Drinking, Drug Use Give Press a Field Day Prince's Drinking, Drug Use Give Press a Field Day Posted by FoM on January 13, 2002 at 10:12:54 PT By Lara Smith Source: Reuters Revelations that Prince Charles's 17-year-old son, Harry, has not only drunk heavily at parties but also smoked cannabis threw Britain's press into a frenzy Sunday.The mass circulation News of the World said Prince Harry, whose mother Princess Diana died in a car crash in 1997, had confessed to his father that he had smoked cannabis several times and drunk to excess at parties. The fact that such habits make him much like many British teenagers -- not least the sons of Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw -- did not put newspapers off the scent of a royal scandal.Tabloid and broadsheet papers alike splashed accounts of what was said to have occurred at Charles's Highgrove country estate and a nearby pub across their front pages.Harry, third in line to the British throne after his father and older brother William, was 16 at the time.He was promptly sent by his father to see a rehabilitation clinic in south London to show him how alcohol and drugs affected people's lives, the News of the World reported under the banner headline ``Harry's Drugs Shame.''A spokesman for Prince Charles declined to confirm details of the report, saying only: ``This is a serious matter which was resolved within the family and is now in the past and closed.'' Blair Sympathetic Prime Minister Tony Blair -- whose own teenage son Euan was reprimanded by police for being drunk in London's entertainment district in July 2000 -- said the royal family had handled the situation ``absolutely right.''``They have done it in a very responsible and, as you would expect, a very sensitive way for their child,'' he said on BBC television. ``It is a very difficult situation...Well, I know this myself.''One of Blair's ministers, Jack Straw, then the home secretary (interior minister), had to take his 17-year-old son William to the police four years ago after he was caught selling drugs to an undercover newspaper reporter.Bill Puddicombe, head of the charity that runs the clinic Harry visited, said the prince had spent most of his time talking to recovering heroin and cocaine addicts.``He sat in groups with people. They explained to him what sort of experiences they'd been through, what a misery their life had been as a result of the drugs they had been taking,'' he told BBC television.The story was hardly the beginning Queen Elizabeth would have wanted to the jubilee year marking the 50th anniversary of her accession to the throne.Last year the queen's youngest son Edward angered the family when his television company ignored an agreement not to harass Prince William at university.Edward's wife, Sophie Wessex, who ran a public relations company, also fell foul of the establishment last year when she was caught by a journalist disguised as an Arab sheikh making disparaging remarks about politicians and the royal family.Harry, a student at the exclusive Eton College school, was just 12 when his mother was killed a year after divorcing Charles. His brother William, 19, is studying at St. Andrews University in Scotland. Source: ReutersAuthor: Lara SmithPublished: Sunday January 13, 2002Copyright: 2002 Reuters UnlimitedRelated Articles:Paper: Prince Harry Smoked Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11742.shtmlPrince Harry Smoked Marijuana and Drank Alcoholhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11743.shtmlDutch Model for UK Drug Laws http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11624.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by john wayne on January 14, 2002 at 19:07:56 PT Who f*cking cares what the royal family does? Whom other than the royal-naval-gazing british "press" that is...Thanks for your attention. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on January 13, 2002 at 20:37:10 PT The British press needs a field day So that their stinky stables can be mucked out!!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 13, 2002 at 15:56:04 PT Sure Did Sam! Ashcroft Nephew Got Probation After Major Pot Bust http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread8291.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Sam Adams on January 13, 2002 at 15:36:40 PT The tabloids On one hand, the British tabloids are just muck-raking sensationalism at it's worst.On the other hand, we could really use them over here! Did you guys know that Mullah Ashcroft's nephew was busting for MAJOR grow-op and distribution business when he was governor back in 1992? I just found out and couldn't believe it. We all saw the article on Asa's son going to do X at a rave, but it was barely a blip in the media.Maybe now we REALLY know why those British leaders came out in favor of decrim...they were tired of seeing their kids all over the front page! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 13, 2002 at 14:40:45 PT News of The World Article from The UK! 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. Complete Article -- http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news.html [ Post Comment ] Post Comment