Pot Puts Prince Harry In Hot Water

Prince Harry, the second son of Prince Charles, could face police action after revelations that he has smoked marijuana, British police said Monday.

The police were reacting to reports in Sunday newspapers that Harry, 17, had confessed to his father that he had smoked marijuana several times and got drunk at parties he held at Charles's Highgrove country estate in western England.

Charles has already reprimanded Harry, whose mother Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, and sent him to visit a drug rehabilitation clinic in south London to see for himself how drugs can ruin young people's lives.

Queen Elizabeth II said that she was pleased with the way Prince Charles had handled his son's scrape.

"The queen shares the Prince of Wales's views on the seriousness of Prince Harry's behavior and supports the action which has been taken," Buckingham Palace said in a statement. "She hopes the matter can now be considered as closed."

Prime Minister Tony Blair also praised Charles' actions as "absolutely right" and Peter Martin, chief of Addaction, Britain's largest drug and alcohol treatment group, said the heir to the throne "has acted with deep sensitivity and very quickly, which is exactly what is needed."

Harry returned to the prestigious Eton school Monday after spending Sunday at his father's Highgrove estate. But the story of his smoking and drinking remained on front pages and at the top of news broadcasts.

And the police said they could not rule out taking action against the young prince.

"We are not in possession of any evidence that would justify us interviewing him ... but will of course consider and act, if appropriate, on any information provided," Wiltshire police said in a statement.

The police are waiting to assess information which newspapers have promised to provide, the statement said.

A Home Office spokeswoman said it was highly unlikely that the young prince, third in line to the throne, would be prosecuted as police had never caught him in possession of the drug.

Harry still faces possible expulsion from school should he fail a random drug test in the future.

"Any boy possessing, using or selling drugs at school during the term can expect to forfeit his place," headmaster John Lewis said in a statement.

"In cases where concerns exist about a boy's possible involvement in drugs he will be counseled and warned, and urine tests are sometimes used to clarify the situation and if possible to put a boy in the clear, which is in fact the usual outcome."

Royal infidelity, divorce and drinking have often made for headlines.

But with sympathy from parents and the widespread praise for his handling of Harry's drinking and smoking, Charles may emerge from the latest scrape with his public image nicely buffed.

He did not comment on Harry's troubles as he made his first public appearance since the story broke, endorsing a campaign to save the albatross.

Much news coverage hs mentioned the awkward position that Harry - who was 12 when his mother, Princess Diana, died in 1997 - occupies within the royal family.

As the "spare not the heir," commentators point out that Harry may be destined to remain in the shadow of his older brother, William, who is in line to become king after their father.

"At least if you are the heir there is a very good reason why you have to be responsible at all times," Penny Junor, who has written a biography of Prince Charles, opined in the Daily Express tabloid. "Being No. 2 is very difficult."

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