British officials invoked "public interest" in deciding not to prosecute Prince Harry for attacking a photographer, the Daily Mirror reported Friday.

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Harry, 20, apparently spent several hours at Mayfair's Pangaea club drinking in October when he emerged to find photographer Chris Uncle shoving his camera into the face of the intoxicated royal.

The prince lunged at the man, smashing the camera into his face and splitting his lip. The prince also screamed various obscenities.

Harry later apologized to his father Prince Charles and his Scotland Yard bodyguards, saying he was "contrite."

Said legal authorities: "Our advice to police earlier this week was not to prosecute. The reason we gave was that it is not in the public interest."