Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau

He had one older brother, current King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (b. 1967), and one younger brother, Prince Constantijn (b. 1969).

His titles at birth were Prince of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, and Jonkheer van Amsberg.

Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau (Johan Friso Bernhard Christiaan David van Oranje-Nassau van Amsberg; 25 September 1968 – 12 August 2013) was the second son of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Claus von Amsberg, and younger brother of King Willem-Alexander.

Johan Friso Bernhard Christiaan David was born on 25 September 1968 at the Utrecht University Hospital (now the University Medical Center Utrecht) in Utrecht, Netherlands.

He was the second son of Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus, and grandson of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard.

Prince Friso was baptized on 28 December 1968 in the Dom Church in Utrecht.

His godparents were Prince Harald of Norway, Johan Christian Baron von Jenisch, Herman van Roijen, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Christina von Amsberg.

In 1986, he graduated from the secondary school Eerste Vrijzinnig Christelijk Lyceum in The Hague.

From 1986 until 1988, he studied mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.

From 1988 he studied at Delft University of Technology, where he obtained an engineer's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1994.

From 1990 he also went to the Erasmus University Rotterdam, where he obtained an MSc degree in business economics in 1995.

Prince Friso worked from 1995 to 1996 at the Amsterdam branch of the international management consultancy McKinsey.

Subsequently, he attended INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France), where he received an MBA degree in 1997.

After completing an MBA-programme at INSEAD, Prince Friso worked from 1998 to 2003 as a vice president at Goldman Sachs International in London.

On 30 June 2003, it was 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.

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.

In 2004, he became part-time co-president of TNO Space in Delft.

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 has 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.

From October 2006, Prince Friso was managing director in the London office of a private investment and advisory firm, Wolfensohn & Company.

Prince Friso was a co-founder of the MRI Centre in Amsterdam and was also a founding shareholder of Wizzair, the largest low-cost airline in Eastern Europe.

He was honorary chairman of the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development (a position he held together with his younger brother, Prince Constantijn).

Prior to his accident, Prince Friso was working as a chief financial officer for URENCO, a uranium enrichment company.

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, where he was in a critical but stable condition.

According to his doctor, Wolfgang Koller, even though he was trapped for a relatively short time and hopes had originally been higher, subsequent neurological tests showed that after fifty minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in moderate hypothermia, he suffered massive brain damage due to oxygen shortage.

His initial coma later progressed to a minimally conscious state, and it was unclear whether he would ever regain full consciousness.

On 17 February 2012, Prince Friso was buried under an avalanche in Lech, Austria, and he was taken to a hospital in Innsbruck.

According to a formal statement of the Netherlands Government Information Service (RVD), a prognosis could be given only after some days.

The prince's condition was described as "stable, but critical".

The Dutch Royal Family issued a statement on 19 February saying "The Royal Family is very grateful and deeply touched by all expressions of support and sympathy after the ski accident of His Royal Highness Prince Friso. It was a great support for them during this difficult time."

A prognosis on his health situation was expected within a few days, but this was pushed back to 24 February, a week after his accident.

On 12 August 2013, one and a half years after the accident, Prince Friso died from complications.