BRITAIN: Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne, was under renewed scrutiny yesterday after an early morning fracas outside a nightclub which left a paparazzi photographer with a cut lip.
The 20-year-old royal who has developed something of a playboy image but has also been trying to shed his wild reputation, clashed with the 24-year-old man outside the exclusive Pangaea club in London's West End.
Clarence House, the official London residence of his father, the Prince of Wales, said in a statement that Prince Harry had pushed back after he was hit in the face by a camera - but the photographer, Chris Uncle, claimed the prince "deliberately lashed out".
An eyewitness also claimed the prince was swearing during the altercation and had buried his head in his knees as his car sped away from the African-themed venue, a popular haunt for celebrities and Page 3 tabloid model topless girls.
A Clarence House spokesman said Harry had been defending himself when the incident happened in Piccadilly at around 3 a.m. He added: "Prince Harry was hit in the face by a camera as photographers crowded around him as he was getting into a car. In pushing the camera away, it's understood that a photographer's lip was cut."
Mr Uncle, who reported the incident to police but has yet to make a formal complaint, claimed that the prince jumped out of a car to attack him. "Prince Harry looked like he was inside the car and we were all still taking pictures," Mr Uncle, who works for the Big Pictures agency, told London's Evening Standard newspaper.
"Then suddenly he burst out of the car and lunged towards me as I was still taking pictures. He lashed out and then deliberately pushed my camera into my face. The base of the camera struck me and cut my bottom lip. At the same time he was repeatedly saying 'Why are you doing this? Why don't you just leave me alone?'."
Mr Uncle claimed the prince's police protection officers pulled the royal away and pushed him back into the car.
Big Pictures said it did not wish to comment about the incident, but another photographer who was outside the club said the prince had no reason to react as he did. "In this situation he wasn't under any threat. The photographer whom he went for is the mildest mannered photographer," he said.
News of the scuffle comes just a week after new army recruit Harry was accused of cheating in his art A-level exam.
He is believed to have been upset at claims by sacked Eton art mistress Ms Sarah Forsyth that she helped him to pass. In an employment tribunal, Ms Forsyth's lawyers revealed she secretly recorded a conversation with the prince and alleged he admitted he had done little towards the course work. Clarence House described the claims as "incredibly unfair".