Princess Caroline of Monaco gave a spirited defence of her husband to a packed German courtroom last Monday against charges he drunkenly beat up a hotel manager on a Kenyan resort island in 2000.

Testifying for over two hours and addressed as "madame" by the judge, the 52-year-old said that her aristocratic husband Prince Ernst August of Hanover had merely given Josef Brunlehner two "slaps" with the back of his hand.

He told Mr Brunlehner that "one was for the music and one was for the light show," coming from Mr Brunlehner's disco on the resort island of Lamu, the princess said, next to where the couple and friends were having dinner.

Wearing tortoiseshell glasses, a light brown camel hair coat with black trousers and a black jumper, she said she did not want to "justify" what happened, but that the blows in question were not hard.

Entering via a side entrance with bodyguards, she also denied that the prince, a distant relation of Britain's queen, was drunk, and said that he had not been wearing a ring, which Mr Brunlehner claims caused him serious injury.

At an earlier trial in 2004, the prince was found guilty of aggravated assault and was fined €445,000.

After years of legal wrangling, he was granted a new trial due to testimony by Princess Caroline before the court, which was closed to the public, in which she confirmed her husband's account.

The defence says Mr Brunlehner massively exaggerated his injuries.

The hearing was adjourned until January 28.