Right Juris

Prince Ernst August is Princess Caroline’s Husband. Caroline is the Princess of Monaco while August is the Prince of Hanover. Prince August is being retried in the 2000 assault case against a Kenyan hotel owner. Read about the Hanover Prince retrial, his biography and see pictures and video below.

Ernst August

Prince Ernst August of Hanover appeared in court for the first time in 5 years for a retrial on the alleged beating of a hotel owner off the Kenya Island Lamu in January of 2000.

Authorities in Kenya did not arrest August following the incident but was pursued by German authorities who’s law will allow prosecutors to charge those for crimes committed abroad. During the first trial, courts ruled August repeatedly hit Josef Brunlehner with a metal object in during the January attack.

In 2004, Prince August was convicted of causing serious bodily harm to Josef Brunlehner who claimed August punched him in the abdomen and chest with a metal ring causing several bruises and verbally abused him. The injuries sustained required treatment at the Emergency Room. Upon conviction, August was fined 445,000 euro equaling 633,560 in U.S. currency.

In his last trial, at the time attorney Jochen Heidemeir believed the Prince may have been holding something during this assault. August did not deny slapping Brunlehner, describing it as a “symbolic left and right slap to the face” due to annoyance with lights and music during a hotel disco. However, he did deny using any object or brass knuckles during the attack. Heidemeir also stated in last trial August was not one hundred percent accountable of his actions due to being “a person who angers easy and loses control of his actions while being under the influence of alcohol.”

Witnesses came forth testifying they could corroborate with his story. Among the witnesses was wife, Princess Caroline of Monaco, who gave her testimony to the courts behind closed doors. At the end of 2008, due to testimonies from witnesses and evidence coming forth confirming August only slapped the victim and not hospitalizing Brunlehner as he previously claimed, August was awarded a retrial.

The retrial opened Monday, June 15th, 2009 in Germany in the Hildesheim state court where no plea was entered. The trial is expected to last 11 days.

This is not the first time August had a run in with the authorities. In 1999 he was fined for attacking a German photographer. The following year he caused an uproar once pictures surfaced of him urinating outside the Turkish Pavilion during the World’s Fair in Hanover. In 2003 he was caught speeding down a French highway resulting in a one month suspension of his license.

Ernst August Albert Paul Otto Rupprecht Oskar Berthold Friedrich-Ferdinand Christian-Ludwig Prinz von Hannover, also known as Ernst August Prince of Hanover, was born February 26, 1954 in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany. He is 55 years old. His parents are Ernest Augustus IV, Prince of Hanover and his first wife, Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Sometimes referred as Ernest Augustus V.

He is currently married to Princess Caroline of Monaco, who are the parents of Princess Alexandra of Hanover. He was previously married to Chantal Hochuli, a Swiss chocolate heriess. He has two sons from his first marriage. Prince Ernst August of Hanover and Prince Christian of Hanover.

More photos and a video of Ernst August are below.

Ernst August Photos

Photos: www.wenn.com