Posted on 04/24/2004 5:44:34 AM PDT by TopQuark
Dutch Prince Gives Up Throne for Love
By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Prince Johan Friso, the second son of Queen Beatrix, married human rights activist Mabel Wisse Smit Saturday without the approval of the Dutch government, giving up his claim to the throne for love.
AP Photo
Johan Friso, 35, had been third in line for the Dutch monarchy after his elder brother, Crown Prince Willem Alexander, and Willem Alexander's infant daughter Amalia.
After the civil ceremony performed by the mayor of Delft at City Hall, the pair headed to the city's Oude Kerk, or Old Church, for a formal ceremony witnessed by European royalty and a wide circle of friends.
Among those attending, amid flowers and regalia, were the entire Dutch royal family, King Harald V of Norway and financier George Soros, the employer of the 35-year-old Wisse Smit.
The government refused to give its endorsement to the marriage — required for any royal wedding — which meant Johan Friso could not remain a member of the House of Orange.
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said in October the lovers had given him "incomplete and incorrect information" during the standard prenuptial vetting process.
Wisse Smit and Friso admitted misleading the government about the extent of her relationship with drug lord Klaas Bruinsma while she was in college in 1989.
Bruinsma was killed in a gangland execution in 1991.
Reporters uncovered evidence that contradicted Wisse Smit's version of the relationship as an innocent passing friendship, and the story dominated Dutch newspapers and television for several weeks late last summer.
But the pair said they would marry anyway.
"I wish you a happy future, with much privacy," said Mayor Hein van Oorschot before performing the civil ceremony.
Once Johan Friso said, "I do," Saturday, he lost his right to the throne, but will retain the title of Prince of Orange-Nassau. Wisse Smit remains a commoner, and any children they have will be dukes and duchesses.
"It's too bad. It was unwise not to disclose all the facts," said Johan Friso in a television interview last week. He said the pair had felt they were disclosing all relevant information, but wanted to protect their privacy.
"The suggestions that I had an intimate relationship with Mr. Bruinsma just aren't true," Wisse Smit added.
The Dutch royal family has a history of troubled engagements.
Willem Alexander married Argentine Maxima Zorreguieta in 2002 in a fairy-tale wedding, but her father, who served that country's brutal military junta, was not invited to attend.
Queen Beatrix's own marriage in 1966 was met with public riots when she wed Prince Claus, a former German soldier, during a time when the Netherlands was still feeling anger and humiliation over its occupation by Germany in World War II.
Beatrix's sister Irene also relinquished her claim to the throne so that she could marry a Spanish noble — despite an ancient enmity between Catholic Spain and the Protestants of the Netherlands.
After Johan Friso and Wisse Smit announced their engagement, Beatrix said she was proud be gaining such a "sweet and gifted" daughter-in-law.
Wisse Smit worked for several human rights organizations, and most recently was head of the Open Society Institute in Brussels, part of Soros' humanitarian network.
Soros was among several international figures to support the couple in an open letter to the Dutch media last year.
Johan Friso is director of TNO Space, a research institute. He studied at Delft's Technical University.
Friso's grandmother, the former Queen Juliana, was buried in the Old Church last month, and his father Prince Claus was buried there last year.
Ahhhh...the uses for a good spellchecker!
Not the kind of woman I would like my son to marry. As for "human rights activist," she might be like those in our country who label themselves as such when the fight for special perks to those who have broken the law.
Aren't we all...
Islam is going to take over the National League?
Just kidding...
True, but it should not be the Prince of Darkness, should it? I mean, there is a difference between a "dangerous" boy/man and a drug lord, is it not?
And for those of you who don't consider them a handsome couple, I think your standards must be very high indeed.
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