Prince Johan Friso funeral held in small village of Lage Vuursche

The funeral for Prince Johan Friso, who died on Monday following a ski accident, has been held in the Netherlands.

Dutch Prince Johan Friso remained in a coma for a year and a half after being hit by an avalanche at an Austrian ski resort in 2012.

The prince was buried in the small village of Lage Vuursche, near the castle where his mother, former Queen Beatrix, plans to retire.

Only residents and around 80 official guests attended, including Prince Johan Friso’s godfather, Norway’s King Harald V.

The royal family is planning a public memorial event later this year. Until then, a book of condolences has been opened online.

Roads had been closed and events cancelled in Lage Vuursche as members of the royal family and their friends arrived at Stulpkerk church for the funeral.

Prince Johan Friso’s widow, Princess Mabel, attended with their two daughters, 8-year-old Luana and Zaria, 7, as did his mother Beatrix and brothers King Willem-Alexander and Prince Constantijn.

The 44-year-old prince was skiing off-piste in Lech in February 2012 when the avalanche struck, trapping him for more than 15 minutes and starving his brain of oxygen.

The prince was later flown to London for treatment. He was eventually discharged last month but remained in a “state of minimal consciousness”.

At the time, officials said Prince Johan Friso would spend the summer with his family, with medical treatment provided by a specialist team. He had since suffered complications and died on Monday morning in The Hague.

Prince Johan Friso was Queen Beatrix’s second of three sons, but was no longer in line to the throne after his 2004 marriage to Mabel Wisse Smit, because of her earlier involvement with a notorious Dutch drug criminal.

Shortly before becoming king on the abdication of Queen Beatrix, his elder brother Willem-Alexander spoke in April of the “terrible situation” the family had been living with.

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