The second son of the Queen of the Netherlands, Prince Friso, is in a critical condition after being caught in an avalanche. The Prince was ski-ing at the resort of Lech in Austria when the accident happened. His condition has been described in an official royal statement as “stable, but not out of danger”.
The Prince is a member of the Dutch Royal Family but not of the Dutch Royal House. The Dutch cabinet excluded Prince Friso from the line of succession by not asking parliament for permission for his marriage to Mabel Wisse Smit. The decision was taken in light of uncertainty over Ms Smit’s past romantic links to an alleged drug dealer.
In This Story: Austria
Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked East Alpine country in the southern part of Central Europe. It is composed of nine federated states, one of which is Vienna, Austria’s capital and its largest city.
It is bordered by Germany to the northwest; the Czech Republic to the north; Slovakia to the northeast; Hungary to the east; Slovenia and Italy to the south; and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west.
Austria occupies an area of 83,879 km2 (32,386 sq mi) and has a population of nearly 9 million people. While German is the country’s official language, many Austrians communicate informally in a variety of Bavarian dialects.
The Netherlands, informally Holland, is a country primarily located in Western Europe and partly in the Caribbean, forming the largest constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In Europe, it consists of 12 provinces that border Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in the North Sea with those countries and the United Kingdom. In the Caribbean, it consists of three special municipalities: the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. The country’s official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland, and English and Papiamentu as secondary official languages in the Caribbean Netherlands. Dutch Low Saxon and Limburgish are recognised regional languages (spoken in the east and southeast respectively), while Sinte Romani and Yiddish are recognised non-territorial languages.
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As of 22nd February 2012 there is still no change in the Prince’s condition. He is stable, but not out of danger. Doctors will issue a statement once there is a more substantial prognosis.
As of 22nd February 2012 there is still no change in the Prince’s condition. He is stable, but not out of danger. Doctors will issue a statement once there is a more substantial prognosis.