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CNN Live At Daybreak

England's Prince Harry Admitted Drinking and Drug Usage To Father

Aired January 14, 2002 - 05:21   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Boys will be boys, that's what they always say. But when the boy is Britain's Prince Harry and he's been smoking pot and getting drunk in a pub, well, that's another story.

CNN's Hala Gorani has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Splashed all over the Sunday papers, the youngest son of Britain's heir to the throne, 17-year-old Prince Harry admitting last summer to his father that he got drunk and smoked marijuana. He was then sent for a day to a rehab clinic to see for himself the dangers of drug abuse. Even the country's prime minister, whose son was also caught drinking underage last year, had something to say about it.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I think that the way that Prince Charles and the royal family handled it is absolutely right, and they've done it in a very responsible and, as you would expect, in a very sensitive way for their child.

GORANI: It's claimed Prince Harry smoked pot in and around his father's country home in western England and drank heavily in a nearby pub. Perhaps not unusual behavior for a teenager and his friends, but for royal watchers and gossip lovers, this is finally a story they can sink their teeth into.

NICHOLAS DAVIES, ROYAL AUTHOR: And they'd come back there and, you know, a bit of naughtiness going on there and drinking and smoking.

GORANI: On the street, the reaction from her majesty's subjects was a bit more subdued.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's youngsters nowadays, do you know what I mean? That's what they do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he is the one that sets the example so he can't be leading people down the wrong path. But, you know, it's not uncommon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not a big deal. Not at all. GORANI (on camera): The story of Harry's underage drinking and pot smoking will die down eventually, but this is a fresh generation of royals coming of age. So expect many more tabloid stories on the young royals to come your way in the future. Once Harry and his older brother William enter public life in earnest, their lives are sure to be reported from every angle and in great detail.

Hala Gorani, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: No doubt about that.

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