Countess Karoline Friederike Cäcilie Klothilde von Wartensleben (6 April 1844 in Mannheim – 10 July 1905 in Detmold) was a German noblewoman who was the wife of Ernest II, Regent of the Principality of Lippe.

in 1828 – in Germany/US ammunition trade), but the question of her hereditary rank became an important issue in a 1905 dispute over succession to the throne of the principality of Lippe.

Thus Karoline's children with the regent of Lippe, Count Ernest, became dynasts and the Schaumburg-Lippe Prince desisted his formal opposition.

The monarchs, courts and legislatures of Germany accepted the decision and her eldest son was immediately recognised as Leopold IV, sovereign Prince of Lippe,[2] reigning until compelled to abdicate in 1918 when the German Empire collapsed following the loss of World War I.

[2] Ernest and Karoline had six children; they were all titular counts and countesses of Lippe-Biesterfeld at birth; the ruling in 1905 made them princes and princesses of Lippe.