Britain's Prince Charles took his youngest son Harry to a rehabilitation clinic to show him the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse, after the young prince admitted having smoked marijuana and getting drunk, a Sunday newspaper reported.
St James' Palace, the official residence of Prince Charles, said the matter was now closed.
"This was a serious matter which was resolved within the family and is now in the past and closed," a spokesman said Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Under a front-page headline "Harry's Drugs Shame," the News of the World tabloid reported that Charles discovered last year that his son, aged 16 at the time, had smoked cannabis at Charles' Highgrove country estate in western England.
Marijuana use is illegal in Britain and the legal drinking age is 18. Harry was 16 when he confessed to his father last summer, the newspaper reported.
There was no suggestion Harry needed treatment at the center, but merely chatted with addicts during a daylong visit to learn about the dangers of drugs.
The newspaper said Harry experimented with marijuana over a two-month period at Highgrove, in a rundown outhouse at a nearby pub and at private parties held by friends.
Charles was alerted to his son's behavior by a Highgrove staff member, who noticed a strong smell of marijuana, the newspaper reported.
He took swift action, confronted the young prince and took him to a drug rehabilitation center in south London, where he spent a day talking with addicts.
He has not used drugs since, the newspaper said, quoting an unidentified family friend.
Charles was himself once involved in an infamous underage drinking episode. He was 14 when, during a school sailing trip in Scotland, he and four other boys were given permission to dock at a remote island.
Charles led the boys to a public bar, where he ordered a cherry brandy.
Several British newspapers, including the Sunday Mirror, the Mail on Sunday and the Sunday People tabloids, also carried reports about Harry's alleged underage drinking at the pub near Highgrove.
"Prince Charles is deeply worried about the behavior of his ... son while staying at Highgrove in his father's absence and raised his concerns with Harry's housemaster at Eton [school] during a meeting last week," the Mail on Sunday said.
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