Pubdate: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) Copyright: 1999, The Globe and Mail Company Contact: http://www.globeandmail.ca/ Forum: http://forums.theglobeandmail.com/ Author: Alan Freeman, European Bureau PRINCE WILLIAM AND FRIEND INVOLVED WITH DRUGS London -- He may be only 17, but with his tall, handsome looks and the charming, bashful smile of his mother, Prince William is already being viewed as Britain's most eligible bachelor. So when 27-year-old Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, a friend of the Royal Family known for the glamorous parties she attends and the men she hangs out with, was reported to be horsing around with the heir to the throne, tongues started wagging. Saying she is a victim of "rumourtism," which she describes as a social disease in which lies are spread as fact, Ms. Palmer-Tomkinson now has denied suggestions she has been sexually involved with the Prince, claiming he is nothing but a "mate" to her. "I am a drug addict, not a pedophile," said Ms. Palmer-Tomkinson in a first-person article written for the November issue of Tatler, a glitzy society magazine. Ms. Palmer-Tomkinson, who recently completed a rehabilitation program at The Meadows in Arizona, said she was sent there for her cocaine addiction and not, as rumours had it, because she was being punished for sleeping with the Prince. But she acknowledges some high jinks with young William. "I've messed with lots of friends -- both young and old -- by the pool, with everyone playing striptease and debagging one another." (Debagging is a British term for pulling off someone else's pants.) "But then the disease [rumourtism] kicks in and instead of 10 people clowning around, you have only two, and then suddenly it becomes really serious and, before you know it, you're branded a sexual deviant. William is a mate, but that's one thing I'm not really going to go into." She denied being banned from the Royal Family's recent summer cruise. She said she simply decided not to go because she was just out of rehab and would have missed her daily sessions at Narcotics Anonymous. "There was no way I could be at sea for 12 days," she writes. "Moreover, on board there's a drinks trolley behind every corner." Ms. Palmer-Tomkinson, a willowy blonde, is seen in a photo accompanying the article draped over a Bidermeier chaise-longue and wearing a $7,700 Christian Dior dress. She is no social climber from the wrong side of the tracks. Her parents are among Prince Charles' closest friends and the recent marriage of her sister Santa was considered one of the social events of the season. Charles attended with Camilla Parker Bowles. Showing deep frustration at being the constant victim of rumours, Ms. Palmer-Tomkinson says she often feels like standing up and screaming, "It's not true. It's not true." But, she said, by doing so, "I would only be adding fuel to a story, so now I'm learning to ignore everything." Sometimes though, she acknowledges, the rumours are prescient. "There were rumours that I was using drugs long before I really was. I think that came about because I'm naturally energetic. When I was taking coke, the rumours were actually true, although I actually thought I was doing a rather good job of hiding the fact." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake