Party-loving Prince Harry had a lively table tennis tussle with Kings Of Leon. He faced off against drummer Nathan Followill in a hard-fought clash backstage at the recent gigs the band played at London’s O2 Arena.

It was the US drummer who emerged triumphant, Nathan said “We’re still pretty wide-eyed about meeting dignitaries but he’s the cool prince I think. He picked up a ping-pong bat backstage and we went at it.”

The Nashville rocker was urged to give Her Maj’s grandson an easy ride during the contest, but refused to be intimidated by the third in line to the throne. He jokingly added “I’m not sure what the etiquette is when you play a prince at table tennis, but hey, I’m a king aren’t I? A king trumps a prince.”

Indeed it seems the band rhythm-keeper’s mastery of the slice and topspin smash is superior to the young Windsor’s, at least according to the band themselves. A gloating Nathan concluded “I think the other guys thought, ‘Maybe you should let a real prince win’ but he is so tall and he’s got military training so I figured he can look after himself. It was a hard-fought battle but I took him in the end.”

And Nathan is now a fan of the Prince – offering his band’s services if the playboy royal ever settles down. With Prince Williams marriage to Kate Middleton coming up on the 29th April, he went on “Man, we would jump at playing the royal wedding if we were asked. Wills and Kate look like nice people but Harry is the dude. His is the wedding we would most likely play. He knows his music, he keeps it real on his iPod. I’m sure Wills and Kate know what they are doing but Harry would definitely throw a Kings Of Leon-style party.”