Twelve pupils have been disciplined in a drug crackdown at Gordonstoun, the £24,000-a-year public school whose old boys include the Prince of Wales.

One pupil was expelled for taking cannabis and 11 were suspended after the school, in the northeast of Scotland, carried out an investigation.

Students were asked to admit smoking cannabis and be suspended, or to take a drugs test and face expulsion if the result came back positive, it was reported yesterday.

Teachers began the inquiry after hearing allegations that one of the students had been dealing in cannabis.

Mark Pyper, the headmaster, said: “Gordonstoun has a strict policy in relation to drugs. As soon as we became aware of a possible problem we took action.”

The Prince of Wales, who described the school as a “hell hole”, was a pupil at Gordonstoun in the 1960s at a time when it was synonymous with cold showers and early morning runs. The Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex also attended the school.

A spokesman for Grampian Police said that the school had notified them of a matter concerning non-class A drugs last month but it had been dealt with internally. The school confirmed that the drug involved was cannabis.

Times Recommends

• DIY video helps the WI get to grips with sex
• Artists urge nation to save Titians
• Go home, Iraqi leader tells Britain