Dutch royalty, the second son of Queen Beatrix and Prince-consort Claus von Amsberg, and the younger brother of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. Prince Friso was a member of the Dutch Royal Family, but because of his marriage without an Act of Consent in 2004, he lost his membership of the Dutch Royal House and was no longer in the line of succession to the throne.
On 30 June 2003, it had been announced that Prince Friso was to marry Mabel Wisse Smit. The Dutch cabinet, however, did not seek permission from parliament for this marriage, a constitutional requirement if Prince Friso was to remain a member of the Dutch Royal House and in line of succession for the throne; at the time, he was second in line after his older brother, Willem-Alexander.
The Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende explained that this was due to discussions with Mabel Wisse Smit in October 2003, when she had admitted that her previous statements about an alleged relationship with Klaas Bruinsma (1953–1991), a known Dutch drug baron, had not been complete and accurate. She had previously stated that she had contact for a few months with Bruinsma, but in a casual context, neither intimate nor relating to business, and that she had broken the contact on learning of Bruinsma’s occupation.
This “breach of trust” was the reason the government did not seek parliamentary permission, respecting the wishes of the couple. They nevertheless married at Oude Kerk (Delft) on 24 April 2004, and Mabel Wisse Smit became a member of the Dutch Royal Family but not a member of the Dutch Royal House.
Considering that his elder brother King Willem-Alexander had three children, Prince Friso’s exclusion from the succession was unlikely to have an effect on the monarchy in the Netherlands.
After their marriage, Prince Friso and his wife Princess Mabel set up home in London, in the suburb of Kew.
The couple’s first child, Countess Emma Luana Ninette Sophie of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg, was born on 26 March 2005 in London. Their younger daughter, Countess Joanna Zaria Nicoline Milou of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg, was born on 18 June 2006, also in London.
On 17 February 2012, Prince Friso was buried under an avalanche in Lech, Austria, while skiing off piste. He was taken to a hospital in Innsbruck in a critical but stable condition. It was unclear whether he would ever regain consciousness and come out of his deeply comatose state. On 19 November 2012 it was announced that the prince had started to show some signs of consciousness but it was still uncertain if he would wake up, and if so, in what kind of state.
On 9 July 2013 Prince Friso was moved back to Huis ten Bosch in the Netherlands. It was understood that his coma had evolved into a minimally conscious state. As he was no longer in need of hospital-level medical care, he stayed with his family for the summer. On 12 August 2013, it was announced that Prince Friso had died in Huis ten Bosch, The Hague.
Link to Wikipedia biography