Prince of Hanover in coma in Monaco

Last updated at 12:41 08 April 2005


The husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco slipped into a coma on Tuesday, a few hours before the tiny Mediterranean state's sovereign ruler Prince Rainier died, palace sources said on Friday.

Prince Ernst August of Hanover was admitted to a Monaco hospital with pancreas pains on Monday and has been in a coma since Tuesday evening, the sources said.

"He's not dead but is in a deep coma," one source close to the Monaco palace said. The palace itself declined comment.

'Curse'

Ernst August's problems are likely to renew discussion of the myth that a curse that is supposed to have hung over the Grimaldi dynasty during its seven centuries of rule that said the family would never have long and successful marriages.

Rainier, who died on Wednesday aged 81, will be buried next Friday beside his wife, former Hollywood actress Grace Kelly.

Ernst August, 51, has regularly made tabloid headlines in Germany with his explosive temper.

He was sentenced to pay 445,000 euros ($570,800) 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.

German newspaper Bild quoted Monika, Princess of Hanover, the prince's stepmother as saying Ernst August was in hospital but gave no details as to his condition.

"Yes, it's true, Prince Ernst August is in hospital in Monaco," she told the daily. "I have no information from Monaco. I don't know how he is doing."

Rainier died after spending more than a month in hospital battling lung, heart and kidney problems. He never remarried and said he always missed Princess Grace, who was killed in a car accident in 1982.

Prince Albert, 47, will succeed his father as Monaco's ruler. He has been linked to a succession of models and actresses but has yet to settle down.

His sister Stephanie has made headlines with her marriage to a Portuguese circus acrobat, following her liaisons with an elephant tamer and a bodyguard. Caroline's second husband was killed in a motorboat accident in 1990.

Most watched News videos