Ill husband of Monaco’s Caroline 'stable'

MONACO - The husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco remained seriously ill in hospital yesterday with an acute pancreatic infection, palace sources said.

Prince Ernst August of Hanover, who has often made tabloid headlines with his explosive temper, was taken to hospital in Monaco on Tuesday - one day before the death of the tiny Mediterranean state's monarch, Prince Rainier.

"His condition is stable but serious," one palace source said. The source made clear there had been mo major change in Ernst August's condition since the palace issued a medical bulletin on Friday but gave no other details. Friday's bulletin said Ernst August was seriously ill in a hospital intensive care unit and was under constant observation.

Ernst August, 51, is Caroline's third husband. Her second husband was killed in a motorboat accident in 1990.

The prince is the highest-ranking German aristocrat and is a distant relative of Britain's Queen Elizabeth. But he has often made headlines for the wrong reasons.

He was sentenced to pay 445,000 ($817,413) euros in fines last November for beating a German club owner on a Kenyan island resort. He has also been accused of kicking a photographer and offending journalists.

Rainier, who died last Wednesday aged 81, will be buried next Friday beside his wife, Hollywood actress Grace Kelly. His son Prince Albert, 47, will succeed him as Monaco's ruler.

- REUTERS