Back to school for Prince Harry

Prince Harry, 17, spent a day at a rehab clinic where he heard about the dangers of substance abuse

ETON, England -- Prince Harry is expected to be back in classes at Eton on Monday where he will hope to put the weekend's revelations of his drug taking behind him.

His father, the Prince of Wales won praise from Prime Minister Tony Blair and drugs support groups for his handling of "every family's nightmare."

Prince Harry left Eton College on Sunday after revelations of his cannabis smoking and underage drinking were revealed.

The 17-year-old youngest son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana spent Sunday at his father's country residence, Highgrove in Gloucestershire.

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Prince Harry had lunch with his father and elder brother William and was expected to return to the school on Sunday night.

Blair, whose eldest son Euan was once caught underage drinking, acknowledged it was a difficult situation for the Prince of Wales and his family, saying: "I know this myself.

"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," Blair told the BBC.

Euan Blair, then 16, was found to be drunk and incapable in London's Leicester Square while celebrating the end of his GCSEs in July 2000.

Prince Charles had faced "every parent's nightmare" but handled it very well, according to Addiction, Britain's largest specialist drug and alcohol treatment agency.

"It seems from what we know of the story that the Prince of Wales has acted with deep sensitivity and very quickly, which is exactly what is needed," chief executive Peter Martin told the Press Association.

A spokesman for St James's Palace, the Prince of Wales's official London residence, confirmed on Saturday night that Prince Harry had visited the Featherstone Lodge drug, a rehabilitation clinic in Lewisham, south London, of which has father is patron.

The spokesman told CNN: "This is a serious matter which was resolved within the family, and is now in the past and closed."

Prince Charles discovered the teenage prince had taken drugs at Highgrove and at private parties, and allegedly drank alcohol at the Rattlebone Inn, Sherston, Wiltshire, the Sunday tabloid News of the World reported.

Bill Puddicombe, chief executive of Phoenix House UK -- which runs Featherstone Lodge -- described to CNN details of Prince Harry's visit, which was made last summer.

He said: "We received a request from the Prince of Wales's office for Prince Harry to come and visit one of our rehabilitation centers.

"He came and visited for a couple of hours. Prince Charles was not with him. He spoke to the people were there recovery from addiction from cocaine, heroin, other illicit drugs and alcohol.

"He learned a bit about the consequences of drug use, he heard about people's life stories and heard, I guess, some harrowing details of what had happened to them."

Prince Harry spent two hours visiting patients at Featherstone Lodge, in south London

In Britain, possession of cannabis, a class B controlled substance, is punishable by up to five years in prison, although the government has proposed making possession a non-arrestable offence. The legal age for buying alcohol is 18.

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.

Prince Charles was alerted to his son's behaviour by a Highgrove staff member, who noticed a strong smell of marijuana, the newspaper reported.

Prince Charles is reported to have reacted straight away when he learned his son had tried cannabis, sending him to visit the rebab clinic to show him the dangers of drug abuse.

"The way we interpreted it was it was a piece of good, responsible parenting by Prince Charles," Puddicombe said.

Scandals involving drink and drugs have dogged the circle of friends of Prince Harry and his elder brother William, whose mother died in a car crash in 1997.

Last year, Nicholas Knatchbull, one of Prince Charles's godchildren received treatment at a drug rehabilitation clinic.

Tom Parker Bowles -- another godchild and son of Prince Charles's partner, Camilla Parker Bowles -- was exposed as a cocaine user two years ago.

His cousin, Emma Parker Bowles, admitted in 2000 that she had been treated for drink and drug addiction.

And when he was 14, Prince Charles himself was at the centre of an infamous underage drinking episode after he entered a pub on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.

He asked for a cherry brandy, saying later it was the first thing that came into his mind, but the incident attracted international attention.