Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau and Mabel Wisse-Smit: April 24, 2004

[Sancia]

Is there a link to see the wedding?

 

[The Watcher]

They are now married!!!!!!!!!!!
Both said 'ja' (is 'yes')!!!!

 

[The Watcher]

Weddingdress made by 2 young Dutch designers Victor&Rolf

 

[Sean.~]

Originally posted by Danielane@Apr 24th, 2004 - 3:44 am
Is there a link to see the wedding?

I provided them earlier. Anyway, go to

http://www.nos.nl/nieuws/artikelen/2004/4/...eschouwing.html

Once there, click on Huwelijk Johan Friso en Mabel in the right hand box. It helps if you have broadband though.

Sean

 

[Sean.~]

FYI,

Civil wedding is over. Religious wedding to start soon.

 

[Duchess Sophie]

an awfull dress............. a pity of the money it costed in my opinion.................

 

[Sean.~]

Originally posted by royal_sophietje@Apr 24th, 2004 - 4:47 am
an awfull dress............. a pity of the money it costed in my opinion.................

Awful? You're being far too kind, IMO!

 

[The Watcher]

The dress is very uhmmmmmmmm..... special....

 

[Teresa]

The dress..... ...the horror...

Who design it?
And how much it cost?
Anyone knows?

 

[Martine]

I don't know how to designed it's quite special

I guess she loves bows

 

[Sean.~]

Originally posted by Teresa@Apr 24th, 2004 - 5:56 am
The dress..... ...the horror...

Who design it?
And how much it cost?
Anyone knows?

$65,000 Euro. Designed by two Dutch designers.

 

[Martine]

this is what they say on the royal website about the dress


Trouwjurk

De jurk van de bruid heeft een aansluitend lijfje met bateau halslijn en een gerende rok. De coupe van de jurk (zoals deelnaden, coupenaden etc.) is geheel weggewerkt in een degradé ruitpatroon van klein naar groot. Op de kruispunten van het ruitpatroon zijn strikken geappliceerd, wederom in een degradé patroon van klein naar groot. Er zijn in totaal 248 handgemaakte strikken op de jurk aangebracht: 128 strikken op de rok; 85 strikken op het lijfje; en 35 strikken op de sleep.

De bovenstof van de bruidsjurk is 'Satin Double Soie' (satin duchesse) uit Lyon in de kleur Snow White (15 meter totaal). Voor het ruitmotief en de strikken is 30 meter zijden 'Gran Georgette' gebruikt. Deze garnering is schuin van draad verwerkt. De lengte van de sleep is 2.75 meter exclusief linten en 3.15 meter inclusief linten.

De bijpassende schoenen zijn in dezelfde satijn als de jurk met de hand gemaakt in Italië. Ook hier is gekozen voor een strik garnituur op de voorvoet.


248 bows!!!

 

[Teresa]

Originally posted by Martine@Apr 24th, 2004 - 6:06 am
.....
248 bows!!!

No wonder I feel sick of them

I hope for some nice dresses on the next royal weddings

 

[Ennyllorac]

The dress is beyond ugly.... You are all being polite about it.

 

[Sean.~]

Originally posted by ennyllorac@Apr 24th, 2004 - 6:14 am
The dress is beyond ugly....  You are all being polite about it.   

Well, as long as she liked it. I guess that's all that maters. It certainly won't win any fashion awards.

 

[Martine]

Originally posted by ennyllorac@Apr 24th, 2004 - 6:14 am
The dress is beyond ugly.... You are all being polite about it.

yeh I don't like the dress either, but that's my personal opinion, she obviously really likes the dress and that's what's the most important thing anyway...
I don't like breaking off people...

 

[Roos]

I honestly didn't know it was today...Actually I didn't know it already happened

 

[Martine]

Here's an article + videos, they are under "mediatheek" on the right

http://www.nos.nl/nieuws/artikelen/2004/4/24/huwelijk.html

 

[Martine]

http://www.nos.nl/nieuws/artikelen/2004/4/...lfrisokerk.html

pics from in the church

 

[Duchess Sophie]

When I heard Victor and Rolf would be the designers of Mabels dress, I already knew it wasn't going to be a dress fit for a royal wedding.

The service didn't impress me either. Oh well, she finally got what she wanted: a prince. When she entered the townhall her face was exactly telling what she thought.
I already noticed with the interview that she is not that honest as she was portraying herself. She didn't knew Da Silva, but she knows he had been in jail for murder. Strange. And she knows exactly what that Soros-guy does and for what Sacirby is in jail.

I can only hope Friso knew what he did.....

 

[Alexandria]

I am just starting to look at all the pictures (darn these time zones! ).

My first impression was that the neckline seemed very nice, although I wasn't all that crazy about the criss crossing spider/bow action going on with the dress so far.

Then I saw this picture: And I think my stomach churned! The train with all the bows was dreadful! Espescially since last night while looking for a picture I had come across an official picture from Willem and Maxima's wedding and was reminded of how lovely Maxima's train was.

From these above pictures, I thought that the colour lilac was a lovely choice, espescially with Mabel's bridesmaids, sister who was a witness, and her mother and Queen Beatrix in complimentary suits. I especially loved the little girls in their pouffy lilac dresses with the black bolero jacket and white collars. (Little Anna, daughter of Maurits and Marilene is adorable -- she's grown so big! )

But as for the bridesmaids, I didn't care so much for their outfits. They looked a bit like business attire, minus the matching black jacket! I know that Mabel and Johan's wedding was not as grand as Willem and Maxima's or Constantijn and Laurentien's, but the bridesmaids here could've dressed up a bit more. ... I guess the upswing here is that maybe these ladies won't be stuck with a hideous bridesmaids dress after today and can wear the blouse or skirt seperately to work?

 

[Alexandria]

From Ademar at the Glittering Royals MB:
Church Blessing of TRH Prince and Princess Johan Friso of Oranje-Nassau

Imagine a pavement café on a large square in Amsterdam. A woman sits reading the morning paper, sipping a cup of coffee. She turns to a friend and says, ‘Where is this all heading…?’

Sitting behind these two friends we see Professor Van der Leeuw, a theologian and one of our first prime ministers after the war. He cannot resist answering the question with another question. ‘Excuse me, but who told you that it should be heading anywhere?’

There is a well-known Dutch hymn that goes ‘Whither leads the path that we must follow?’ Where did we get the idea that the world should be heading somewhere? That we should be following a path in our lives? Clearly, it is something we sense deep within ourselves. And it seems that the whole meaning of our existence rests on the answer we give to this question.

Prior to our discussions to prepare for this special day, Friso and Mabel committed to paper their thoughts on their future together. They let me draw on these letters today. Friso described life as a journey, as a flight. Not surprising for someone who has studied aeronautical engineering and holds a pilot’s licence.

‘In times of peace and predictability,’ writes Friso, ‘you move forward in full flight. You think you know where you are heading. Sometimes you encounter some turbulence, but you don’t usually need to give what you are doing much thought. Things are going well. You are above the clouds, everything looks fine, clear and sunny.

Now and again you have to make a landing, sometimes scheduled, sometimes not. Landings can represent major turning points in life. Such as a change of career or course of study, accidents or setbacks, or the death of a loved one. These are also the moments when you can think about your next destination and about the passengers or copilot you want to come with you.’

Those who know her – and here, Friso, I would like to put your letter aside for a moment – are aware that you have found a lovely and able copilot. As you got to know each other, you gradually became aware – after a few ups and downs, as is to be expected when two people with differing temperaments and backgrounds fall in love – how close you were becoming. There was a kind of electricity between you, or ‘flames’, to use the words of the Song of Songs, that jewel in the bible. Flames ‘of the Lord’, the poet ventures to say, because he is unable to explain otherwise how two people fall in love and cannot contemplate the idea of being without each other. Flames of the Lord, he says, and – as we will soon hear from the choir – ‘many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it’.

And indeed, many turbulent waters have coursed over your love. Some people found it difficult to understand you in the events that gave rise to this turbulence. Yet others say that they did understand. But if there is one thing that has been made plain to us all, it is the strength of your love. It proved capable of withstanding what befell you and, if anything, it has become even stronger.

It is apparent to all of us that people have not always done you justice. And maybe it wasn’t easy to know you properly, with both of you living abroad. People tend to resort to conjecture, and their guesswork is often wide of the mark. It was therefore good that you had the courage to offer us greater insight into your lives and your expectations of life by taking part in a television interview. It was also clear to us, Mabel, how warmly and fully your husband’s family had taken you into their midst.

Let me now return to Friso’s letter. You both wanted to get married in church, so I asked you how you saw God. ‘God,’ you said, ‘fulfils the same role in my life as the navigation equipment in an aeroplane. As a pilot, you don’t know exactly how it works, but then you don’t need to, as long as you know what you can do with it. Using this equipment, you can fly further, with greater certainty and fewer worries than would otherwise be possible. Its most important quality is that you can always rely on it; you know that it points you in the right direction. If your attention lapses and you stray momentarily from the right path, you know that He is there for you’ – you write ‘He’ here with a capital ‘H’ – ‘that He is there to set you back on course. He does this without making a judgment on how or why you have strayed. If you are lost in cloud or mist, if you no longer know where you are or what you should do, you can always count on His help to get you out of difficulty. If you have to make a landing, He makes sure you can find the airfield and touch down safely. And, as you continue your journey, He shows you the way to go. Marriage’ – you go on to say – ‘is just such a landing for me. Mabel and I have had an interesting, turbulent, but pleasant flight. I am sure that we will arrive safely, and will take off again safely too. This is why I think it is important that we get married in church and ask for God’s blessing on our future journeys together.’

There are moments in our life when our wings seem to be broken, when we seem to be numbed. I have in mind what both Friso and Mabel have been through in their lives in terms of illness and worries. Not only do we sorely miss Friso’s father today; Mabel too has lost a father, on two occasions, her second father having meant no less to her than her first. But at the same time, said Mabel, my faith in God is so deep that it always overcomes every setback and disappointment.

Your mother, Mabel, recalled how, at nursery school, you lapped up the Bible stories. And that from the age of about ten you knew you wanted to become a missionary. You have in fact become one, although your concern now is not to tell people in other countries about the Bible, but, together with others, to provide advice and financial support for people in eastern Europe who are making the transition from dictatorship to an open and responsible society. And to work in this way to achieve more justice and humanity in this world. Because, as you put it, that is what faith in God demands of us and also stands for.

I enjoyed reading in the newspaper about your appearance together with other former pupils at the anniversary celebrations of your old school in Hilversum. Your enthusiasm in talking about your work was so infectious that one pupil decided there and then to do a degree in political science instead of medicine, so that later she might be able to work for a human rights organisation. So you see, Mabel, you have become a kind missionary.

It seems to me that you have always been in a bit of a hurry. That is to say, time has always been precious. As a student in Amsterdam, if you had to wait quarter of an hour for the tram, you would unfailingly do so with a course book on your knee. Perhaps this trait was reinforced by the loss of your father when you were nine. ‘It made me realise,’ you said, ‘that life is not endless. Life,’ you went on, ‘is a wonderful, unique gift, its only insurmountable limitation is time. It is not only a shame but also shameful to do nothing with your life.’ You both experience life as a unique gift and – I hesitate to say this – as a calling.

Which brings me back to the story we have just read, in which Moses is called by God to lead his people, the Israelites, out of slavery in Egypt. ‘I have surely seen,’ said God, ‘the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large.’ But Moses was unsure whether he could trust this voice, and answered, ‘Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?’ And God said: I WILL BE THERE. Tell the children of Israel that I WILL BE THERE has sent you.

It was of unprecedented significance for the whole of human history that the people of Israel were the first people to give the name ‘I WILL BE THERE’ to that mystery we refer to by the word ‘God’. By this they meant: we can have faith in this world and this life. There is a sustaining force – Israel saw this sustaining force, entirely in the spirit of the time, as a person, an image that people cannot really do without and which I think we should hold onto – there is a sustaining force, which we do not invoke in vain, and which manifests itself repeatedly in human history. A force that is not the sole privilege of the ancient people of Israel, but of all people. A force to which all the injustice in the world, all tyranny must yield again and again; a driving force that ultimately brings people together and reconciles them, as surely as its name is I WILL BE THERE. A force, a God who does not remain idle as people are humiliated and crushed, a God who calls people towards a world of justice and peace, the world he envisaged when he began. A God who continually mobilises people to speak for him and do his work on earth. There operates on high, in Friso’s words, a celestial navigation system, which we would do well to use, at least if we wish to get anywhere with this world.

I WILL BE THERE. This is four letters in the Hebrew. They are depicted high in a window of this church, a window dedicated to Prince William of Orange, who was born in Dillenburg in 1533. On 24 April, this very day. The man who led the resistance against Spanish domination in these parts and who ultimately only found the courage to fight the Spaniards because God was his ‘shield and his trust’.

But if these four words form the essence of God, this has major consequences for us. Because if we believe in a God who says I WILL BE THERE, we can hardly fail to respond and not ‘be there’ ourselves when it really matters and someone calls on our help. We have to be there. After all, what can God do without people, without us? The Bible teaches us that not only do we need God to know where we should go in life, but that God also needs us. After all, as the Old Testament says, man was made in the image and after the likeness of God. That is his calling. And if this origin can no longer be seen in him, his life is a sorry affair.

If you want to know, says the Good Book, who God is, then look at those people in history who have embodied him like no other. Look at Moses, and the prophet Isaiah. And Jesus of Nazareth who, it seems, understood and mirrored God like no other. His words, said the people, were the words of God. God spoke through this man. In this man, God came down to earth to set an example, as it were, for mankind. Yet, he came back with holes bored through his hands.

And what is happening today in this church is this: two people are becoming joined together with this God, as we have come to know him most profoundly in the man from Nazareth, so that their lives, like his, shall be meaningful. Seeking that love to which God holds the secret.

Paul tried to describe God’s love, as we have just heard in that sublime passage. Love, he says, and you could also say true love, ‘suffereth long, and is kind; […] believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things’.

Needless to say, Paul is describing here not what he sees every day, but what he does not see every day. He describes the love to which God holds the secret. He is actually describing God himself. He cannot do so in a single word, and sometimes he is better able to express what love is not, rather than what it is. Love ‘seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil’.

It is in this spirit that these two people, whom today we support with our friendship and love, will strive to live their lives together. They will endeavour to be as God to each other. To be there – in his spirit – for each other.

And now Mabel can set off with Friso on their shared future; now she can find the courage to do so, because Friso will tell her, echoing God’s words to Moses when he asked his name, ‘Trust me Mabel, I will be there’.

And Mabel will say the same to Friso, in his commitment to her and in all they will encounter in their lives together, ‘Trust me Friso, I will be there’.

 

[andiemac]

i don't know why friso doesn't seem as happy as alexander on his wedding day ? is he always serious and doesn't display much emotions ? kind of regret now that he is no longer in line to the throne ?

 

[Alva]

Yes, I agree with you all, the dress is not the one I would buy for my wedding ( even if I had the money). If you look beyond all the bows, it is not that ugly, the cut is nice, BUT the bows are really there!
And as Alexandria put it: why business suits for the bridesmaids instead of dresses???

I really don´t know anything about this couple, if she is nice or a wannabee, but she hasn´t got any taste, that´s for sure!

Beatrix dress is lovely by the way, the collar suits her even if the hat looks like it´s from her own wedding- but it´s her style!

 

[Alexandria]

From Ademar at the Glittering Royals MB, Information on the wedding of Prince Friso and Miss Mabel Wisse Smit:

The bride’s wedding dress and the outfits worn by the bridesmaids, flower girls and page boys were designed by the Dutch couturiers Viktor & Rolf. Miss Mabel Wisse Smit was closely involved in the design process. A team of four assistants spent more than 600 hours creating the bride’s dress.

Wedding dress
The dress has a close-fitting bodice, a boat neckline and a flared skirt. The seams are concealed by a pattern of checks with handmade bows covering the points at which they intersect. There are 248 bows in all: 128 on the skirt, 85 on the bodice and 35 on the train.

The dress is made of white satin duchesse from Lyon (15 metres). 30 metres of silk georgette were used for the trimming and bows, all of which are cut on the bias. The train is 2.75 metres long, and 3.15 metres including the ribbons.

The bride’s shoes, styled in the same satin as the dress, were made by hand in Italy. They are trimmed with bows to match the dress.

Bridesmaids
The two bridesmaids wear ice-blue satin blouses with a bow trimming the collar, and long, slightly flared skirts of dark blue crepe, closed by means of a sash. Their dark blue suede and patent leather shoes were hand-made in Italy.

Flower girls and page boys
The boys wear dark blue tail coats, matching trousers of cotton and silk velvet, a white cotton poplin shirt, and a cummerbund and bow of ice-blue satin to match the bridesmaids’ blouses.

The flower girls wear dark blue jackets of cotton and silk velvet, dresses of pale blue satin organza with a white collar, set off by an ice-blue satin cummerbund.

Bridal bouquet
The bride carries a spring bouquet of delicate white flowers, with fragrant lilies of the valley (Convallaria majalis), snowdrops (Leucojum aestivum), crowfoots (Ranunculus), guelder roses (Viburnum) and jasmine (Jasminum polyanthum). A scattering of white roses (Rosa Maroussia and Rosa Akito) and the same star-shaped eucharis that Princess Beatrix chose for her own bridal bouquet complete the arrangement.

Tiara
The bride’s tiara is a reworking of a sapphire coronet made by the celebrated jewellers Mellerio dits Meller of Paris in 1881. The original was ordered by Willem III as a gift for Queen Emma. It has been mounted with diamonds for the wedding of Prince Friso and Miss Mabel Wisse Smit.

RVD, 24 April 2004, 10.20 hrs.


From Henri M. at the Benelux Royals MB, Mabel's dress in facts and stats:

15 meter snow white Satin Lyonnaise

30 meter Grand Georgette Silk for 248 bows

3,15 meter: the train

Shoes: handmade in Italy from the same Satin Lyonnaise as the gown

Designed by the Dutch haute couture emperors Viktor & Rolf.

A team of four worked for 600 hours

 

[Dennism]

The bride is lovely. Her smile radiates beauty. I hope they will be very happy together. Congratulations to them.

 

[Alexandria]

Source: Yahoo News

Dutch Prince Gives Up Throne for Love

By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Prince Johan Friso, the second son of Queen Beatrix, married human rights activist Mabel Wisse Smit Saturday without the approval of the Dutch government, giving up his claim to the throne for love.

Johan Friso, 35, had been third in line for the Dutch monarchy after his elder brother, Crown Prince Willem Alexander, and Willem Alexander's infant daughter Amalia.

After the civil ceremony performed by the mayor of Delft at City Hall, the pair headed to the city's Oude Kerk, or Old Church, for a formal ceremony witnessed by European royalty and a wide circle of friends.

Among those attending, amid flowers and regalia, were the entire Dutch royal family, King Harald V of Norway and financier George Soros, the employer of the 35-year-old Wisse Smit.

The government refused to give its endorsement to the marriage — required for any royal wedding — which meant Johan Friso could not remain a member of the House of Orange.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said in October the lovers had given him "incomplete and incorrect information" during the standard prenuptial vetting process.

Wisse Smit and Friso admitted misleading the government about the extent of her relationship with drug lord Klaas Bruinsma while she was in college in 1989.

Bruinsma was killed in a gangland execution in 1991.

Reporters uncovered evidence that contradicted Wisse Smit's version of the relationship as an innocent passing friendship, and the story dominated Dutch newspapers and television for several weeks late last summer.

But the pair said they would marry anyway.

"I wish you a happy future, with much privacy," said Mayor Hein van Oorschot before performing the civil ceremony.

Once Johan Friso said, "I do," Saturday, he lost his right to the throne, but will retain the title of Prince of Orange-Nassau. Wisse Smit remains a commoner, and any children they have will be dukes and duchesses.

"It's too bad. It was unwise not to disclose all the facts," said Johan Friso in a television interview last week. He said the pair had felt they were disclosing all relevant information, but wanted to protect their privacy.

"The suggestions that I had an intimate relationship with Mr. Bruinsma just aren't true," Wisse Smit added.

The Dutch royal family has a history of troubled engagements.

Willem Alexander married Argentine Maxima Zorreguieta in 2002 in a fairy-tale wedding, but her father, who served that country's brutal military junta, was not invited to attend.

Queen Beatrix's own marriage in 1966 was met with public riots when she wed Prince Claus, a former German soldier, during a time when the Netherlands was still feeling anger and humiliation over its occupation by Germany in World War II.

Beatrix's sister Irene also relinquished her claim to the throne so that she could marry a Spanish noble — despite an ancient enmity between Catholic Spain and the Protestants of the Netherlands.

After Johan Friso and Wisse Smit announced their engagement, Beatrix said she was proud be gaining such a "sweet and gifted" daughter-in-law.

Wisse Smit worked for several human rights organizations, and most recently was head of the Open Society Institute in Brussels, part of Soros' humanitarian network.

Soros was among several international figures to support the couple in an open letter to the Dutch media last year.

Johan Friso is director of TNO Space, a research institute. He studied at Delft's Technical University.

Friso's grandmother, the former Queen Juliana, was buried in the Old Church last month, and his father Prince Claus was buried there last year.

 

[Jacqueline]

Thank you for the pictures Alexandria. I must confess that I had completely forgotten about this wedding. I really liked the dress, but I have to admit that the train completely took away from it. I think that the designer went a bit too abstract when coming up with the design. It was a lovely detailed gown that only called for a very simple train. Too bad. Other than that it would have been absolutely stunning.

 

[Dennism]

That photo of Mabel waving and peeking out from inside the car is just precious. Thanks for all of the photos.

 

[Tina]

Originally posted by Alexandria@Apr 24th, 2004 - 1:49 pm
Mabel's sister (name?) signs the register

her name is Nicoline


:flower: