LONDON, Oct 21: Prince Harry, fast gaining a reputation as Britain's most unruly royal, was involved in a scuffle with a photographer outside a London nightclub early on Thursday, palace officials and witnesses said.

A royal spokesman insisted the 20-year-old younger son of the late Princess Diana - who died in 1997 when the car in which she was fleeing a convoy of press photographers crashed in Paris - only pushed a camera away after it struck him in the face.

However, the photographer concerned insisted that Harry, who was leaving the fashionable Pangaea club in the Mayfair district of central London, "lunged" towards him, pushing the camera into his face and cutting his lip.

Harry, and 22-year-old brother Prince William, are both known to be very distrustful of members of the press, who they supposedly blame for their mother's death, despite an official inquiry which cleared the photographers.

Harry's relations with the media were not improved by newspaper reports last week that one of his former schoolteachers had accused the prince of receiving illicit help in his final exams, allegations which reportedly upset him greatly.

However, the incident at around 3:00am at outside the South African-themed club will cement Harry's growing reputation as a playboy prince with a wild streak.

Two years ago, Harry admitted to smoking cannabis and underage drinking at a bar near the southwest England estate of his father, heir to the throne Prince Charles.-AFP