Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Sunday

Prince Charles Uses Scare Tactics on Son

Aired January 13, 2002 - 15:43   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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: When Britain's Prince Harry admitted to his father he'd used pot, Prince Charles did what any concerned parent might do. He resorted to scare tactics. CNN's Hala Gorani explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Splashed all over the Sunday papers, the youngest son of Britain's heir to the thrown, 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 Prince Charles and the royal family handled it is absolutely right, and they've done it in a responsible and, as you would expect, in a 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. They just didn't realize what they were doing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is the one that set the example, so he can't be leading people down the wrong path. It's not uncommon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not a big deal.

GORANI (on camera): The story of Harry's underaged 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)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com