LONDON -- In the first public embarrassment involving Princess Diana's children since her death, her 17-year-old son, Prince Harry, was taken to a rehab center after admitting that he had illegally drunken alcohol and smoked marijuana.
The story, broken by Sunday's News of the World tabloid under the headline "Harry's Drug Shame," and all but confirmed by the royal family, dominated British print and broadcast news reports all day.
It also led to widespread speculation about what the development will mean for the royal family and for Prince Harry, who could conceivably be expelled from Eton, the prestigious private school.
But given how many parents have faced similar problems with their teen-agers, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush, Prince Charles won praise for the way he had dealt with Harry, who is third in line for the British throne.
Blair, whose son Euan, then 16, was arrested when police found him drunk and vomiting in central London in July 2000, said Charles, the heir to the British throne, had faced a difficult situation.
"I know this myself," Blair said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. "I think the way that Prince Charles and the royal family have handled it is absolutely right and they have done it in a very responsible and, as you would expect, in a very sensitive way for their child."
The problem drew comparisons to the one that Bush had faced last year, when one of his twin teen-age daughters was charged with using someone else's identification to try to buy a drink at a restaurant in Texas.
The charge was eventually dropped after 19-year-old Jenna Bush showed proof that she had performed community service, attended alcohol awareness classes and paid a dlrs 100 fine.
Marijuana use is illegal in Britain and the United States. The legal drinking age is 18 in Britain, and 21 in the state of Texas.
Prince Harry drank with friends at a pub near Charles' Highgrove country estate in western England and smoked marijuana with friends, the British media said in front-page stories.
Prince Charles sent Harry, then 16, to a drug rehabilitation center in south London for a day after learning of his son's drug use last summer.
Harry -- who was 12 when his mother, Princess Diana, died in a car accident in 1997 after divorcing Prince Charles -- did not need therapy at Featherstone Lodge, but spent a day there talking to recovering addicts.
Harry, a tall, athletic and wholesome-looking teen-ager, with an easygoing, informal manner, has long been considered more high-spirited than his older brother, Prince William, 19.
Asked about the news reports about Prince Harry, Charles' office at St. James's Palace said: "This was a serious matter which was resolved within the family and is now in the past and closed."
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the spokesman also told The Associated Press the royal family did not dispute the reports about Harry's drinking and marijuana use or the guidance he received at the rehab center.
Harry left the Eton school for the weekend to spend time with his father at Highgrove. He returned to Eton on Sunday night.
Bill Puddicombe, chief executive of Phoenix House Treatment Service for Drug Dependency, which runs Featherstone Lodge, said Harry had visited at the request of his father, who is a patron of the center.
"It was an opportunity for the Prince of Wales to teach Prince Harry about our work and the consequences of taking drugs," Puddicombe said. "He came for a couple of hours on a day in late summer and talked to several people in recovery -- heroin and cocaine addicts mostly."
"They told him what had happened in their lives, which must have been quite harrowing for him," Puddicombe said.
The News of the World said Harry had experimented with marijuana over a two-month period at Highgrove, in a rundown shed at a nearby pub and at private parties held by friends.
Charles was often away on business, and Prince William was away traveling on a "gap" year between leaving high school and starting university, the newspaper said.
Charles was alerted to his son's behavior by a Highgrove staff member, who noticed a strong smell of marijuana, the newspaper reported. When Charles confronted Harry about his drinking and marijuana use, the boy admitted them, the paper said.
On Sunday, a commission that established rules to protect the private lives of Harry and William from media intrusions reminded the press that it must obey them now that the boys are back at school.
