Prince to marry gun moll

[Tom Storer]

Saw this on CNN. The thread title is humorous as the woman in question is clearly not a gun moll.


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Dutch Royal fiancee in mobster row
Thursday, October 9, 2003 Posted: 1618 GMT (12:18 AM HKT)

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- The Dutch Royal family has stirred up controversy over the engagement of Prince Johan Friso to a woman alleged to have had a relationship with a gangster.

Mabel Wisse Smit became engaged to the second-in-line to the throne in June, after a career in human rights' organizations and the United Nations.

But reports have surfaced that she had a relationship with Klaas Bruinsma -- a criminal shot dead in a gangland killing in 1991.

She denies having been Bruinsma's lover, but admits to having known him for a brief period when she was a student.

Some politicians have said the prince must give up his claim to possible succession if he goes through with the marriage without the blessing of parliament.

Some royalists have also said the wedding should not be allowed to go ahead, Reuters reported.

It is the latest Royal match to have caused controversy.

The Dutch Royal family came under fire when Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander married Argentinean Maxima Zorreguieta last year.

The relationship sparked controversy when it emerged that Maxima's father had been a minister during the 1976-1983 Argentinean military dictatorship.

While Queen Beatrix's own marriage to German-born Claus triggered riots.

Diplomatic dignitaries have come to Wisse Smit's defense, saying she spent a career trying to help the oppressed.

Supporters include billionaire philanthropist George Soros and former French minister and U.N. envoy Bernard Kouchner.

"It is shocking that a person who has done so much for human rights in the world should be treated so badly in her own country because of a dubious accusation about an issue dating back 15 years, when she was in her early 20s,'' the group wrote in an open letter published in Dutch daily De Volkskrant on Thursday.

"As friends and colleagues, we support her totally.''

Wisse Smit, 35, an economics and political science graduate, has worked for the United Nations, the Open Society Institute -- part of Soros' network -- and a non-governmental organization promoting democracy and stability in the Balkans.

A former bodyguard to Bruinsma said last week Wisse Smit had been the mobster's lover.

Wisse Smit admits she had known Bruinsma for a few months when she was a student and had spent a few nights on his boat but never slept with him. She split with Bruinsma when she learned of "the practices he engaged in.''

Another former Bruinsma employee attacked the bodyguard's credibility. And a female friend of Wisse Smit said she, not Mabel, had actually been the gangster's girlfriend, Reuters adds.

[Ron Thorne]

Sounds like a marriage made in heaven. Cannabis is legal in Holland, right?

[Cem]

Originally posted by Ron Thorne
Cannabis is legal in Holland, right?

VINCENT:
Yeah, it breaks down like this:
it's legal to buy it, it's legal to
own it and, if you're the
proprietor of a hash bar, it's
legal to sell it. It's legal to
carry it, which doesn't really
matter 'cause -- get a load of this
-- if the cops stop you, it's
illegal for them to search you.
Searching you is a right that the
cops in Amsterdam don't have.

[mke]

I saw this on the news a few days ago. I find it ridiculous that the Parliament must approve of a royal wedding. My girlfriend said "But he's second in line to the throne!" and I replied "So what, if the Prime Minister gets married, do they have to approve his wedding too?"

It would have been a shame if the Maxima wedding hadn't gone through: she's pretty hot.

[Uli]

Love apparently wins. The prince has given up claims to the throne to marry his beloved one.

[mke]

Dutch prince renounces throne


Prince Johan said the marriage would go ahead as planned
Dutch Prince Johan Friso has effectively renounced his right of succession to the throne, after the government refused to support his forthcoming marriage.
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said he would not seek parliament's permission for the marriage because the couple had given misleading information about the bride's relationship with a dead gangster.

But Prince Johan - who is second in line to the throne - said his marriage to human rights activist Mabel Wisse Smit would go ahead regardless.

Under Dutch law, royals who aspire to the throne must receive permission from the government and parliament to marry as the cabinet will bear responsibility for their actions.

Ms Wisse Smit admitted earlier this year that she had vaguely known Klaas Bruinsma - whose organisation allegedly dealt in drugs and carried out contract killings - while she was a student.

Boat trips

Last week, however, one of Bruinsma's former bodyguards told Dutch TV that the two had had an affair.

The allegations led Ms Wisse Smit to confess to regular contact with Bruinsma, including several overnight trips in his boat, while continuing to deny any romantic relationship.

SUCCESSION TO THE DUTCH THRONE (SONS OF QUEEN BEATRIX)
1. Crown Prince Willem Alexander, Prince of Orange
2. Prince Johan Friso (claim now renounced)
3. Prince Constantijn

Mr Balkenende said the situation was a painful one for the government and the monarchy.

"The couple had provided information that was not complete and not correct, which has harmed the confidence (of the government)," he said at a press conference on Friday.

In his letter to Mr Balkenende, Prince Johan stuck to his position that there was not any romantic or business relationship between his fiancee and Bruinsma.

The affair, dubbed "Mabelgate", is the latest in a string of controversies that have plagued the Dutch royal liaisons.

Crown Prince Willem Alexander, next in line to the throne to succeed Queen Beatrix, sparked a storm when he proposed to an Argentine whose father served in the military junta.

Queen Beatrix's own marriage to German-born Claus in the 1960s triggered riots.

[Tom Storer]

Good for the Prince!