Dutch prince Friso to be buried near mother's castle

THE HAGUE (AFP) – Dutch Prince Friso is to be buried near his mother's castle on Friday, days after he died from injuries sustained in a 2012 skiing accident, the palace said.

"His royal highness prince Friso's burial will take place on Friday afternoon on August 16 at a private ceremony in Lage Vuursche," a statement said on Tuesday.

King Willem-Alexander's brother Friso died on Monday, aged 44, around 18 months after after he was left brain-damaged and comatose by an avalanche while skiing in Austria.

Friso will be buried at the Stulpkerk church in Lage Vuursche, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) southeast of Amsterdam, the palace said.

The tiny hamlet is where his mother Princess Beatrix, who abdicated as queen in April, has a castle where she intends to spend her retirement.

There had been speculation that Friso might be buried at the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, outside The Hague, where most members of the royal House of Orange are laid to rest, or at the Oude Kerk in the same town, where he was married.

Friso in 2004 married Mabel Wisse Smit, giving up his claim to the throne as well as his Royal House position after it emerged that his future wife had withheld details of her previous relationship with a Dutch drug baron.

As a result, Friso, who was fourth in line to the throne, was excluded from the line of succession.

Friso was injured while skiing in the Austrian Alps in February, 2012.

He was an experienced skier but nevertheless ventured off-piste with a friend while the avalanche risk warning was at four on a scale of one to five.

His friend was unhurt, but Friso spent around 20 minutes under the snow before rescuers pulled him out.

Friso was in July transferred from a hospital in London, where he lived, to the residence of his mother, former queen Beatrix, in The Hague.

He is survived by his wife Mabel and their two daughters, Luana, 8, and Zaria, 7.

A memorial ceremony will be held for Friso later in the year, the palace said.