AMSTERDAM — Prince Johan Friso and Mabel Wisse Smit — who sparked controversy earlier this year by lying about a previous relationship with drugs baron Klaas Bruinsma — will marry in Delft on 24 April.

The royal couple will marry without Parliament’s approval because Mabel was forced to admit she had lied about the extent of the affair. This prompted Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende to confirm at the start of October that the Cabinet will not seek Parliamentary approval of the marriage.

“There is no cure for deceit,” he said.

Prince Friso is currently third in line to the throne — after his brother Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his baby daughter Princess Catharina-Amalia — but will lose succession rights by marring Mabel. Heirs to the Dutch throne must gain parliamentary approval of their marriage.

Mabel lied about the extent of her relationship with Bruinsma, who was shot and killed in Amsterdam in 1991. After former Bruinsma bodyguard Charlie da Silva claimed Mabel had been in a relationship with the mafia boss, she was forced to admit her friendship with Bruinsma was closer than previously thought.

But the lauded human rights worker continued to deny she had been sexually involved with Bruinsma and despite subsequent rumours that she and Prince Friso had broken up, the marriage will go ahead as planned.

Mabel’s first public appearance after the scandal came on Sunday 7 December when she arrived at the Bronovo Hospital in The Hague with her fiancé and his mother, Queen Beatrix. The royal trio was visiting Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Princess Maxima, after she gave birth of the nation’s future queen.

The Government Information Service (RVD) announced on Friday the marriage will go ahead in April as planned, confirming Delft as the location, news agency ANP reported.

Delft Mayor Hein van Oorschot will officiate during the civil ceremony and Reverend Carel ter Linden — who officiates at most royal family religious ceremonies, such as funerals and weddings — will perform the church wedding in the Oude Kerk.

The RVD said the royal couple chose to wed in Delft “because of the historical links between the House of Oranje-Nassau and the city”. Furthermore, Prince Friso and Mabel’s father studied at the Delft Technical University.

[Copyright Expatica News 2003]

Subject: Dutch news + Dutch royals