Your Opinions about Mabel

[carlota]

What do you think of her? Do you like her?

[MoonlightRhapsody]

I don't think she's as mercenary as other people have been portraying her. I think she gets crucified too much about her past, before meeting Johan Friso. I think she genuinely loves Friso and vice versa. It's terrible that he had to lose so much in order to be happy, though from the looks of him, it doesn't seem to bother him all that much.

[Luciana]

I am completely in agree with you, in each one of your words Moonlightrhapsody.

[Guido]

I really don't like her because she seems to me that she is a sly gold-digger who loves power and money very much.

[elenaris]

I do not think she is that bas! she really loves her husband!

[Alexandria]

I think Mabel is crucified for her actions from the time of the engagement to the wedding, when she and Johan Friso both failed to be completely truthful with the government.

I think she is a very intelligent, successful and driven woman in her own right who happened to get caught up in something that was an error of omission, but certainly such an omission shouldn't taint her reputation and her character or be the sole basis by which others judge her.

In the Johan Friso and Mabel thread, Mabel did an interview some time back and I found her to be a very thoughtful, caring and socially-conscious individual. It's a shame that someone whom she was associated with in her past, even as shady a character as he was, is the reason that others lambaste her. Mabel is more than someone she once dated, or at least has associations with. We don't think of men any different for the less than perfect women they dated in the past -- eg. Felipe with Eva, Frederik with Katya, Albert with his many women, etc.

I don't think she is a gold digger at all. Especially now that Johan Friso has lost his place in the succession and they perform no royal duties they do not get paid for anything they do in connection to the royal court (as Martha Louise is compensated when she performs royal duties on behalf of Norway). Johan Friso may still be worth more than your average man financially, but there are other men whom Mabel could've married who are worth more than him -- and without the media scrutiny or the public crucification.

[sara1981]

thanks for your answer question,Alexandria i understand why Mabel have past problems and she had affair with gang relatives.

Sara Boyce

[Eva-Britt]

I think Mabel is a very warm person! She is deeply in love with her husband,
and of course she is very intelligent. She is my favorite princess!

[The Watcher]

It was a big mistake to tell not the whole truth about her contacts with the maffia boss Klaas Bruinsma. It will take some time before all Dutchies will forgive her that. Also her relationship with Mohammed Sacirbey and the stories about it are uhhmmm.. difficult.

But she is doing good things now for human rights etc. She is really a talent and very very intelligent. And it seems she is a good wife for Friso and a good mother for Luana, so I think she will be okay now.

[xxPatrickxx]

I like Mabel very Much, she is nice and very smart. And also very happy with friso and her daughter!

[kelly9480]

I think she does a lot of good work in her chosen field, but she will always be remembered for her failure to tell the truth. If she had been honest from the beginning, at least with the Royal Court, a lot of this might have been avoided because they could have spun like they spun Maxima's dad.

[delineate]

I don't think it was right for her and Johan Frisco to not tell the whole truth about her past, but I don't think she's a bad person for what she's done. Like almost all people, she's made some bad choices in her life and is now trying to make things better. I think in time she will be able to redeem herself and people will start focusing on who she is now, instead of who she was a long time ago.

[SASSY]

I admire whats she does for a living. I think that Johan is intelligent, hardworking, and never seemed too comfortable with the royal lifestyle.

However, no matter what she did in her past, the fact remains the TWO of them lied to their country. They have clearly moved on with their lives but people will always remember that, it will always be in the back of peoples minds'.

To me she's sort of a combination of Wallace Simpson and Heather Mills....mostly Heather Mills.

I admire Mabels' work, but not her.

[Henri M.]

I have seen documentaries in which Princess Mabel waded with her Christian Louboutins through the scat, blood and vomit in Hells-on-Earth like Russian prisons, in the framework of HIV and Aids-prevention.

I have seen Princess Mabel openly attacking the United States Government's attitude against prostitution and drugs. By 'criminalizing' these, no sufficient aid can be provided. Princess Mabel pointed out to the situation in the Netherlands where prostitution and drugs is not seen as a criminal problem but as a public health problem. Clean needles for drugs users, free condoms and medical care for prostitutes and methadon programs fight the spreading of HIV and Aids so much more than whatever else.

I have seen Princess Mabel crying with orphans in the countries of former Yugoslavia who have lost their parents in the various wars on the Balkan. I have seen Princess Mabel nailing their governments for neglecting the thousands of minefields around the former Yugoslav cities, every day terribly wounding animals and men.

Her Royal Highness Princess Mabel, Countess van Oranje-Nassau van Amsberg, director of the Open Society Institite in Brussels, (a very powerful lobby machine) is no symbolic figure who cuts ribbons but the unsung hero and angel to thousands and thousands who owe a lot to her.

Source picture: Koninklijk Huis 2004 / uploaded via my own webspace

[juliana]

Henri M. , as an employee of a "lobby machine" a marriage to a royal would be very advantageous. Lobbyists rely on their contacts for their promotions. She still uses the title Princess in her public speakings, albeit with part of her maiden name, from what I have seen -most successful working women I know still use just their maiden name ,no matter to whom they are married.The lies she told were not appropriate but did Friso actually know everything? Why did he go along with the fake story? Was there any information, about that, revealed to the public? He has paid a big price for his life, though he in fact might be happy about that aspect- I don't know.
They obviously have plenty of money- where they live is testimony to that. Even their two jobs would not necessarily pay for their seeemingly grand residence in London after the deduction of the UK taxes. How rich is Friso? Were trust funds set up for him as a child?
Did they actually decide to become permanent residents of London because of the controversial notoriety, and aimed for the anonimity living in London would bring them?
Any feedback appreciated.

[Jamerican]

Originally Posted by Alexandria

It's a shame that someone whom she was associated with in her past, even as shady a character as he was, is the reason that others lambaste her. Mabel is more than someone she once dated, or at least has associations with. We don't think of men any different for the less than perfect women they dated in the past -- eg. Felipe with Eva, Frederik with Katya, Albert with his many women, etc.

This is such a brilliant point, Alexandria. It's funny how the Royal men are not held to such a high standard (considering they have been born into that life) as the women they have married.

Let's pretend for a second that we know for a fact that Mabel married for title alone. Even if that were the case, I admire the fact that she is using that title not for swanning around in ballgowns at fancy parties, but for doing something that can help people in the world. IMO, I think that the work she has chosen says a lot for her character. If you want to be powerful and rich, you marry some monstrously wealthy guy in high finance, or get into big business.

[Maxie]

Originally Posted by Jamerican

Let's pretend for a second that we know for a fact that Mabel married for title alone. Even if that were the case, I admire the fact that she is using that title not for swanning around in ballgowns at fancy parties, but for doing something that can help people in the world. IMO, I think that the work she has chosen says a lot for her character. If you want to be powerful and rich, you marry some monstrously wealthy guy in high finance, or get into big business.

I agree with you on that one. Mabel does a lot of good work and when it comes to that I think she's wonderful and what she does should be applauded. Do I think she's a golddigger? Well, it's hard to say. We'll never know whether she married Friso for money, status etc. It's a fact that she had relations with several high placed figures and one could draw conclusions from that. I myself don't think we should condemn her for having had some 'interesting' relationships in the past. However, the one thing I don't understand about her is that she lied about her past when questions were asked by the Dutch government. A lot of Dutch people got the feeling that she was hiding something and well, that did not make her particularly popular amongst the Dutch, me included. That was very bad PR, to be honest...

[Henri M.]

Originally Posted by juliana

They obviously have plenty of money- where they live is testimony to that. Even their two jobs would not necessarily pay for their seeemingly grand residence in London after the deduction of the UK taxes. How rich is Friso? Were trust funds set up for him as a child?

It is believed that Queen Wilhelmina (1880-1962) has set up Trust Funds for each of her four granddaughters. These were thought to be 15 rock hard millions each in the Fifties and were meant to serve as a base for annual rents. This means that, with normal inflation in some 50 years (the Trust Funds were set up in the early 1950's), they are believed worth to be some $ 125 million each, which gives them an annual base of $ 4,000,000.-- of $ 5,000,000.-- when we calculate it with a low %.

It is believed that Queen Juliana (1909-2004), on her turn, has done the same for her 14 grandchildren in the late 1970's. Of course these had not time yet to grow into substantial fortunes for annual rents, but you never know, with the exploding real estate prices and stock markets in the late 1990's.

I want to state that this is pure speculation: no one has any insight in the real finances of the members of the royal family. Except for the Queen's Treasurer, of course.

It is thought that Princess Irene and Princess Margarita has gone to the limit with their money. Millions of Princess Irene's money were used for the restoration of the Château de Lignières, her spouse's castle in France. And millions were used for the (failed) election campaigns of the Carlistic Party in Spain. It is believed that Princess Juliana supported her daughter again, when she divorced the Duke of Parma and returned home in the Netherlands. But still she lives in a nice villa and has bought a nature reserve in South Africa.

Princess Margarita is also believed to be broken with her money. She and her spouse have not had a job since their marriage (Edwin claims he was obstructed and blocked in his career by the royal family) but led a lavish lifestyle as the owners of the Château de Bartas in Gers, Gascogne (France) and a canal mansion in Amsterdam. Princess Margarita is believed to be more or less broken and maybe that is the reason of her returning into the royal family.

However this is all suggestion, the fact that Princess Irene could provide millions for the expensive-as-hell restoration of Lignières, the castle of Princess Margarita and the fact that the four children of the Duke of Parma were able to provide their father with cheques of $ 100,000.-- seems to suggest that they are pretty rich indeed. Thanks to grandmama Juliana and their mothers.

Now Queen Beatrix (1938) has inherited the bulk of the Orange-Nassau fortune, we may assume she will follow the example and set up Trust Funds for her grandchildren Princess Catharina-Amalia, Princess Alexia, Countess Luana, Countess Zaria, Countess Eloïse, Count Claus-Casimir and Countess Leonore.

[Alexandria]

Originally Posted by Henri M.

I have seen documentaries in which Princess Mabel waded with her Christian Louboutins through the scat, blood and vomit in Hells-on-Earth like Russian prisons, in the framework of HIV and Aids-prevention.

I have seen Princess Mabel openly attacking the United States Government's attitude against prostitution and drugs. By 'criminalizing' these, no sufficient aid can be provided. Princess Mabel pointed out to the situation in the Netherlands where prostitution and drugs is not seen as a criminal problem but as a public health problem. Clean needles for drugs users, free condoms and medical care for prostitutes and methadon programs fight the spreading of HIV and Aids so much more than whatever else.

I have seen Princess Mabel crying with orphans in the countries of former Yugoslavia who have lost their parents in the various wars on the Balkan. I have seen Princess Mabel nailing their governments for neglecting the thousands of minefields around the former Yugoslav cities, every day terribly wounding animals and men.

Her Royal Highness Princess Mabel, Countess van Oranje-Nassau van Amsberg, director of the Open Society Institite in Brussels, (a very powerful lobby machine) is no symbolic figure who cuts ribbons but the unsung hero and angel to thousands and thousands who owe a lot to her.

This is personally what I find so fascinating about Mabel: She is a very complex individual with many different sides. My feeling is that she has been judged too harshly for the one side of her that has been most prominent and has received the most attention: That she lied to the Dutch government about her previous relationships.

I get the feeling that in certain circles she is probably known more for her work in regards to AIDS and even some of her anti-government statements than for being a princess.

Originally Posted by juliana

Henri M. , as an employee of a "lobby machine" a marriage to a royal would be very advantageous. Lobbyists rely on their contacts for their promotions. She still uses the title Princess in her public speakings, albeit with part of her maiden name, from what I have seen -most successful working women I know still use just their maiden name ,no matter to whom they are married.

In any field or occupation, it's about who you know as opposed to what you know. That's true of anybody. There were stories in Norway of how Martha Louise and her husband were using her title and her family ties to the Norwegian royal family as the daughter and son-in-law of the King to promote their books.

Many people would certainly be more inclined to go hear a speech by Princess Mabel of the Netherlands than plain old Mabel Wisse-Smit. Is this a bad thing in my books? Not really. Not especially if she's trying to bring attention to a good cause. How many more people in this world knew about the tragedy of landmines the personal costs because of Princess Diana? The international bill to ban landmines was certainly passed a lot quicker because of the public attention Diana drew to it and in turn caused the public to lobby their own governments.

I would much rather see someone using their title of Prince or Princess to bring attention to a cause such as AIDS or poverty-stricken nations than to hawk their own line of clothing or creams or whatever. At least Mabel's work benefits others and not herself.

[Henri M.]

Princess Mabel is not really using her titles.
But beyond that: she has every right to use her spouse's titles.
By her marriage she did not acquire nobility but according to tradition female spouses to titled persons can use their husband's style.

Officially she can be styled as:
Hare Koninklijke Hoogheid prinses Mabel Martine van Oranje-Nassau, gravin van Oranje-Nassau van Amsberg née Wisse Smit.

On the website of OSI stands:

M.M. van Oranje - Wisse Smit,
Director EU

So she is usually not using her titles at all.