February 17, 2012 is a day that will forever be etched in the memory of the Netherlands, and the Oranges in particular. On that day, Prince Friso was the victim of a fatal skiing accident during the annual winter sports holiday in Lech. How is it now, ten years later, with his wife Princess Mabel (53)?
“We certainly talked a lot about death. And we also hoped that if something ever happened to one of us, the other would find happiness again.”
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For decades, it has been a regular fixture for the royal family: they invariably spend their winter sports holiday in Lech, Austria. That is no different in 2012. With Florian Moosbrugger, a friend of Friso, the prince was skiing off the slopes on the last day of the holiday when he was hit by an avalanche.
Friso was transferred to the teaching hospital in Innsbruck, then to the Wellington Hospital in London – the residence of his family. One and a half years after the accident, on August 12, 2013, he died at Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague. Prince Friso left his wife Mabel and their daughters Luana and Zaria (now 17 and 15 years old). Friso was only 45 years old.
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Prince Friso and Princess Mabel with their daughters Luana and Zaria in Lech, 2011
Image © ANP
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How is Mabel after the death of Prince Friso?
The Netherlands sympathized intensively with Mabel and the Oranjes after the accident. A year later, Mabel and her daughters were ‘just’ there during the next winter sports holiday in Lech, Friso was still alive at the time. Today, Mabel lives a life out of the limelight in London, but sitting still is not for her. Mabel is an economist, political scientist and human rights activist. Thanks in part to smart investments, among others made by Prince Friso, she is one of the richest Oranges.
New love
It is not known whether Mabel has been able to experience love happiness again since Friso’s death. However, the princess will have a conversation with . in 2018 LINDA. hint that she won’t give up hope. “Friso and I both lost our fathers. We certainly talked a lot about death. And we also hoped that if something ever happened to one of us, the other would find happiness again.” She also said: “Now, in my fifties, I dare to say that I have my life back on track. I am looking forward to the years ahead.”
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Prince Constantijn candid about the loss of Friso
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Princess Mabel walks along with AIDS activists in a protest march in the center of Amsterdam
Image © ANP
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Work
Because of her impressive resume, Princess Mabel can call herself an influential woman. Mabel is one of the 100 Global Leaders For Tomorrow and one of the most influential women in the UK, according to Harper’s Bazaar. But she is more than that.
After, among other things, a position at the United Nations in New York, where she played an active role in the agreements that helped end the civil war in the former Yugoslavia, Mabel now works against child marriage, among other things. She is the initiator and chair of ‘Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage’ and of VOW for Girls.
In 2018, the princess still participated in the Towards ZERO Together AIDS march from Brussels to Amsterdam to draw attention to HIV and AIDS and to break the stigma surrounding the disease. She also spoke: “The political will is not there yet, but together we can provide political will.” Mabel has been fighting the disease for years and hopes that it will be eradicated by 2030.
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Princess Mabel very rich through Adyen IPO
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Princess Mabel is still close to her in-laws. Here with Princess Beatrix at the presentation of the sixth Prince Friso Engineering Award (2020)
Image © ANP
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residence
Contact with her in-laws is still close. Mabel even decided a few years ago to buy a house in the Netherlands. Since 2018 she has owned a large villa of 245 square meters in Breukeleveen on the Loosdrechtse Plassen. Yet Mabel and her two daughters mainly stay in London, the home of the girls.
Power
In the past, Mabel apparently liked to party with wealthy girlfriends and rich oil sheiks (according to investigative journalist Peter Siebelt in his book about her), nowadays she doesn’t have to pay attention to the little ones. To quote Friso’s smart investments: according to business magazine Quote Mabel has built up a capital of 880 million euros, partly thanks to a ‘small share’ in the payment platform Adyen. Friso put a few million into the company in exchange for more than 500,000 shares. The stake turns out to be worth 120 million euros after Adyen’s IPO in 2018. Due to the rising price, the value of the shares has increased even more. Mabel sold almost a third to 43 million euros at the time.
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Eloise of Orange always carries deceased Prince Friso with him
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Found ski from Friso
The manager of the ski resort in Lech, Michael Manhart, recently told AD that he found Prince Friso’s lost ski two years ago. “The ski was bent considerably, through Florian Moosbrugger I found out that it must have been a Friso ski. I left it, I thought it belonged in that place. Not much later I heard that climbers from the village were had brought skis on a trip in the mountains. Then I told them: it’s not a souvenir, just give it to me.”
He hopes to let the security officers of the Oranges know that the ski has been found, if they come back to Lech if the corona measures allow. “If they don’t want it, I’ll destroy the ski. I don’t think it’s an object to put in a glass display case.”
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