'Punching' prince sues own lawyer

The scandal-filled saga of Germany's "Punching" Prince Ernst August of Hanover took a new turn with disclosures that the 57-year-old descendant of Queen Victoria is to sue his own lawyer for claiming he was intoxicated during a violent brawl in East Africa.

In 2000, the prince confronted disco owner Josef Brunlehner over loud music and flashing lights at his club on the Kenyan holiday island of Lamu.

Prince Ernst August is alleged to have twice boxed his ears, saying one punch was "for the music, the other for the light". But Brunlehner said the prince was accompanied by more than 10 islanders as he attacked the disco owner, punching him to the ground.

The prince was fined €200,000 ($336,000) by a German court last year. His lawyer allegedly gave a statement to the court saying the Prince had confessed to having "drunk considerably" before the fight with the disco owner.

But Prince Ernst August has since said he never made such a confession and is now suing his lawyer on charges of perverting the course of justice.

- INDEPENDENT