Last week, we brought you an interesting story about Princess Caroline of Monaco and her husband Prince Ernst August of Hanover. Apparently, their marriage problems (long rumored) are for real, as Ernst August was caught over the holidays vacationing with some mystery woman everyone assumes is his mistress, or one of his mistresses. There were photographs of Ernst and the woman, but despite the evidence, Princess Caroline has not said anything publicly about Ernst or her marriage. Until now! One of the minor points in last week’s story was that Princess Caroline was scheduled to be a witness in the re-trial appeal case of Ernst attacking a German club owner. Now, stories about Ernst attacking various people, from Germany to Kenya, abound. He’s been accused of assaulting multiple people, sometimes with provocation, sometimes not. Anyway, this case stems from a 2004 incident, and Prince Ernst has already been found guilty of assault once – but that was before Princess Caroline spoke up in his defense:

With rumors swirling about the possible status of her marriage, Princess Caroline of Monaco dealt with her husband, Prince Ernst August of Hanover, in a German courtroom on Wednesday – and spoke up in his defense.

Barely a week after scandalous photos of Ernst August cavorting with another woman while on Christmas vacation in Thailand were published in Germany and France, the princess took the witness stand, where her appearance was considered key to Ernst August’s appeal of his 2004 conviction for assault of Josef Brunlehner, owner of a disco near the prince’s vacation home in Kenya.

At the time, the prince was convicted of hitting Brunlehner with a hard object because of Ernst August’s displeasure with the disco’s nightly music and light shows. Found guilty, Ernst August was fined more than $600,000 and charged with causing serious bodily harm.

The new case, with Princess Caroline’s eyewitness testimony, is an attempt to reduce the severity of the conviction to a simple assault charge.

Confirming her husband’s testimony, Princess Caroline told the court, “I observed that my husband slapped Josef Brunlehner twice with his hand flat and that he said, ‘One for the music and one for the light,’ ” reports ORF Television.

Princess Caroline, 52, was originally scheduled to testify in November but canceled due to other obligations. Her Wednesday appearance was negotiated for several months and dependent upon the court’s fulfilling certain security requests.

Still, the timing of her court date proved ticklish: Last Thursday, Germany’s Bunte and France’s Paris Match magazines published pictures of Ernst August embracing and kissing a mystery woman in a skimpy zebra bikini on a beach in Thailand.

On Friday, Germany’s mass-circulation newspaper Bild published a second and more explicit series of photos, while additional coverage surfaced on Sunday.

The couple, who are due to mark their 11th wedding anniversary this month, have not been seen in public together in six months – and that did not change on Wednesday. Not required to be present for the testimony, Ernst August was not in the courtroom for Caroline’s appearance.

[From People]

What the hell is Princess Caroline thinking? Just leave him, for goodness sake. He’s violent, he’s an alcoholic, he’s cheating on you. Enough said.

On the other Princess Caroline post, some of you were talking about Monaco succession and Caroline’s son Andrea Casiraghi, her oldest child, and her first child from her second marriage. From what I understand of Monaco’s succession, as it stands right now, Prince Albert will pass the throne of Monaco directly to Caroline’s son Andrea. Whatever male heirs Prince Albert might have (and I think he has several) do not have any claim because they were not born in wedlock, and from what I’ve seen of Prince Albert, I really don’t think he’s going to rush out and get married just to provide a legitimate heir. I honestly think Prince Albert wants Andrea to take the throne – and that is definitely what Princess Caroline wants for her son too.

This may only interest me, but I find the royal family of Monaco fascinating, so we’re going to enter into the marriage of Princess Caroline and her third husband Prince Ernst August of Hanover. They’ve been married for 11 years, and from what I’ve read throughout the years, they’ve always been somewhat mismatched. Oh, did you know that Princess Caroline is a homewrecker? Prince Ernst was married to a nice Swedish Swiss woman when he and Caroline began their affair, and then he left his wife for Caroline, and he and Caroline went on to have a daughter. Since then, there have been tons of stories about the prince’s drinking, carousing and general unpleasantness.

There are always split rumors about Caroline and Ernst, but last fall the rumors seemed to be getting more serious. Still, no split came, and I haven’t heard anything about them for a while. Now it seems that they spent their holidays apart – Caroline went skiing with her kids, while Ernst spent time in Thailand with a lady friend. How do we know this? Because there are photos of Ernst with this lady friend! Scandal!

The already-tumultuous marriage of Monaco’s Princess Caroline and husband Prince Ernst August of Hanover appears to have hit a new bump with the publication Thursday of photos showing the 55-year-old Ernst August over the Christmas holiday walking the sand, sunbathing on a beach in Thailand and kissing in the surf – all with someone other than his wife, who was skiing with the couple’s children in Switzerland.

In a four-page photo spread headlined “Amorous Escapade in Thailand,” Thursday’s editions of France’s Paris-Match show Ernst August and an unidentified woman locked in an embrace. “The Prince and his friend,” the publication says, “only had eyes for each other.” Meanwhile, Germany’s Bunte also published the photos, declaring, “Monaco’s First Lady Is Being Publically Duped.”

The photos raise a new round of rumors concerning a possible divorce action by the thrice-married Her Royal Highness Caroline Princess of Hanover, Duchess of Brunswick and Lüneburg, 52, the eldest child of the late Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly.

They also show the latest in a chain of indiscretions that has made the couple’s 11-year marriage a royal soap opera starring Ernst August in incidents of public drunkenness, hospitalizations, scuffles, alleged infidelity and one all-too-well-documented episode of public urination at Expo 2000.

The couple – who were seen together on only three occasions in 2009 – have been living apart for some time. In September, photos allegedly revealed the Prince’s close friendship with a Parisian socialite. Days later, while Ernst was in Libya celebrating the 40th anniversary of Colonel Khaddafi’s reign, Caroline moved out of the family’s Fountainebleu home, taking their 10-year-old daughter Alexandra with her and resettling in Monaco.

A press spokesperson in Monaco told PEOPLE on Thursday that the Palace had “no comment” regarding the photographs.

Publication of his holiday snapshots couldn’t possibly have taken place at a less opportune moment for Ernst August. Next Wednesday, after months of negotiations, a court in Hanover is to hear testimony from a newly discovered eyewitness in Ernst’s appeal to have a 2000 battery assault conviction against him overturned.

That eyewitness is none other than his wife.

[From People]

It’s juicy, I think. I’m actually hoping Princess Caroline has had enough. My opinion – just from reading the odd Vanity Fair hit piece – is that Prince Ernst has always been a buffoon. A drunk baffoon. Of course, I think Caroline probably has some secrets she wants to keep hidden, and God knows she isn’t perfect. But she carries out her royal duties flawlessly, and she needs to rid herself of the dead weight, so to speak.