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Caroline's husband Ernst leaves hospital accompanied by close female friend

02 AUGUST 2011

Looking thin, but otherwise alright, Prince Ernst of Hanover is pictured for the first time since he was rushed to hospital in Ibiza with pancreatitis last week.

The colourful royal was seen boarding a boat with a group of friends, including a pretty young woman believed to his companion. She is a former dancer from Romania, known only as Simona, and is thought to be 23.

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For the past two years Ernst has effectively been separated from his wife Princess Caroline, the sister of Monaco's Prince Albert – though no official statement has ever been given saying that the marriage has ended.

He did not attend the recent royal wedding in Monte Carlo. And Caroline has been nowhere to be seen on his annual Spanish break.

Nor is his wife thought to have visited him in hospital. In fact, she is relaxing on vacation in Italy with their 12-year-old daughter Alexandra and her other children.

This is not the first time Ernst has been taken ill with the condition which is sometimes caused by heavy drinking and can be serious.

In 2005, the German missed the funeral of Caroline's father Rainier when he suffered pancreatitis.