Eton backing for Charles

Eton College today attempted to draw a line under the disclosure of Prince Harry's involvement with drink and drugs and indicated that the school supported the action taken by Prince Charles.

In a statement, the school said it had now "dealt with the matter" but would not comment on the " disciplining of individual boys, which is a matter between the school, the boy and the boy's family".

Issued by headmaster John Lewis, the statement made a clear distinction between drug use on the school's premises - which would bring automatic expulsion - and in the holidays, when it said it would expect parents to "deal with the matter directly, as was done on this occasion".

Mr Lewis said: "Any boy possessing or using or selling drugs at school during term can expect to forfeit his place. In cases where concern exists about a boy's possible involvement in drugs he will be counselled and warned and urine tests are sometimes used to clarify the situation, if possible to put a boy in the clear, which is in fact the usual outcome.

"If parents have concerns they may express those concerns to the school." The incident in this case, said Mr Lewis, "took place away from the school at the beginning of the last summer holidays".

It has emerged that Royal Protection Officers assigned to Prince Harry voiced concern about his behaviour to members of the royal household. Sources say there are no plans for an inquiry into the behaviour of the officers, who are believed to have acted correctly.

The fact that they voiced concerns last summer appeared to show that Harry's activities were brought to the attention of royal circles, though it is not known at what level or what action was then taken.

The Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester also issued a statement today about Guy Pelly, a student alleged to have smoked cannabis with Harry. The college said it was taking the allegations against him "very seriously".

The college said it had "a very firm anti-drugs policy and does not condone the taking of drugs on or off campus. There is no evidence of either drug abuse or dealing among our student body."

Eton suffers as many problems as any school in the country with soft drugs, and some years ago the headmaster introduced a policy of random drug testing, which operates alongside the "zero tolerance" policy under which any offender is immediately expelled.

It is said that when Mr Lewis saw Prince Charles last week, he reminded his most famous parent that his son could be asked to provide a urine sample at any time - like any other boy in the school.

Some public schools have found it impossible to enforce "zero tolerance" because cannabis is so widespread, and pupils whose parents are able to pay almost £20,000 a year in fees are not unlimited.

But one of Eton's advantages, as a school which still attracts far more applicants than it can take, is that it can adopt a tough line with offenders of any kind. A school source says: "The headmaster hates having to expel anybody - but he is very tough on drugs."

Charles's handling of his son's troubles won praise from charities and from Tony Blair, who said yesterday that his approach has been "absolutely right". The Department of Education hailed Charles for setting "an extremely good example". The incident surrounding Harry's use of cannabis has highlighted the dilemma facing almost every parent in Britain.