No apology for 'pushy' snapper from the Prince

Published on Sunday 24 October 2004 00:46

PRINCE Harry has refused to apologise to a paparazzi photographer over a late-night scuffle outside a nightclub.

A spokesman for Clarence House said yesterday that although the incident was "regretful", the photographers outside the club had been "much pushier" than usual.

Prince Harry, 20, has apologised to his father about the clash with photographer Chris Uncle, which took place outside the Pangaea nightclub, a popular London haunt for celebrities and Page 3 models, on Thursday.

In an unusual step, Paddy Harverson, the communications secretary to the Prince of Wales, went on a damage limitation exercise by appearing on Radio 4’s Today programme to defend Harry.

But Harverson said the contrition would not be extended to the photographer.

He said: "It certainly seems to be the month for apologies, but no, I don’t think it really requires that. I think it is fairly straightforward."

Witnesses say Harry pushed Uncle against a wall and, it is claimed, shoved his camera into his face.

Aides insist, however, that Harry reacted instinctively after he was struck on the nose by a camera.

Uncle, 24, who was left with a cut lip, claimed the prince deliberately lashed out at him. An eyewitness also claimed the prince was swearing during the altercation.

Harry is alleged to have shouted: "You f****** w*****... why are you doing this to me? Why don’t you just leave me alone?"

Uncle, reported the incident to police but has yet to make a formal complaint.

Harverson gave a robust defence of the young prince, who is third in line to the throne, and said he was not the "one dimensional character" he was sometimes portrayed to be.

"I think the whole thing was regretful," Harverson said. "There were reports that he had a conversation with his father, we have never disclosed what that was, but I’m sure it was a good conversation.

"His father was quite supportive and sympathetic, but hopefully this sort of thing won’t happen again."

Harverson said Harry had been mobbed by photographers when he came out of the club and reacted because he got "smacked in the face" with a camera by accident.

"Obviously the photographs we have seen have been released to the media by the paparazzi who were there, so they are probably quite selective," he said.

"The fact was the paparazzi were pretty aggressive.

"He is not unused to it, he knows they are going to be waiting for him sometimes when he is out and about. In this case they did seem to be much pushier.

"It was unfortunate, it was regretful, but let’s move on."

Asked what Charles’s reaction had been to the incident, Harverson said: "I think he has been supportive of his son, because I think he recognises the situation he has been in.

"He is perhaps one of the few people around who understands what it’s like to be in that situation, although perhaps when the Prince of Wales was a lot younger the media was different and the paparazzi certainly weren’t behaving then like they do now.

"It is a different world, and for the paparazzi, pictures are worth a lot of money, particularly of Harry and his brother William."

Harverson said the prince had been misrepresented as a one-dimensional party animal by the media and asked people to "cut him some slack".

He added: "He’s not the cartoon character that the media like to portray of him.

"He is a good young man trying to make his way in the world in a very, very public situation."

However the fracas has sparked fresh reports of the "playboy prince" that sits uncomfortably with the preferred official image of Harry as the young Sandhurst cadet-to-be.

The scrap followed a week in which a former teacher accused the prince of cheating in his art A-level, something strongly denied by Clarence House.

Some reports have suggested a member of the press pack had asked Harry a question about his A-level just before the scrap broke out.

He is also said to feel that the paparazzi set in motion the events that led to the death of his mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

Harry was just 18 when he admitted smoking cannabis at his father’s house at Highgrove in Gloucestershire.

Among those girls Harry has been reported to have downed drinks with include Page Three girl Lauren Pope and glamour model Cassie Sumner, whose picture appears on an escort agency’s website.

Yet he has expressed his desire to carry on the legacy of his mother. He is also an accomplished sportsman and the Parade Commander of the Eton army cadets.

'He's a plonker, but nice'

WHILE the public have pored over images of the prince from baby to manhood, the ‘real Harry’ is barely known.

Those who do know the prince stress just how remarkably "normal" he is.

One former Eton schoolmate, Jamie, told Scotland on Sunday: "He is a bit of a plonker, but a nice enough chap and good at heart.

"Yes, he goes out drinking, yes he is around people who take drugs, including cocaine, but if you go to smart clubs in London that pretty much goes with the scene. He also acts like a prat at times, as all of his crowd seem to do. They behave as if they own the place, though often of course, they may do."

One girl, Claire, who met Harry at a black tie birthday party in Hampshire four years ago, said he wore red braces with hunting scenes on them and revealed his great passion for blondes.

Claire, a brunette, said: "He told me in great detail about the fact that he only fancies blondes, and then ignored me.

"Later, when he was forced to dance with me - it was a reeling party and the princes always have to have partners - he made faces at me all the way through."