The class struggles in Holland: I'll do anything for love, but I won't do that

[Jurriaan Bendien <bendien@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dutch Prince swaps throne for love

Friday 10 October 2003, 21:59 Makka Time, 18:59 GMT

Dutch Prince Johan Friso, second in line to the throne, gave up his
succession rights after the Dutch government refused him permission to marry
his fiancee Mabel Wisse Smit. Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said
he could not support the marriage after the Prince and Wisse Smit admitted
that Wisse Smit had had a more involved relationship with a gangster than
she had originally said. Under Dutch law, royals who aspire to the throne
must receive permission from the government and parliament to marry as the
cabinet must bear responsibility for their actions. In a letter to the prime
minister made public on Friday, Prince Johan Friso said he would give up his
rights to the throne for love. "The couple had provided information that was
not complete and not correct, which has harmed the confidence (of the
government)," Balkenende said at a press conference on Friday.

Gangster's moll

In August, nearly two months after the couples engagement, Wisse Smit issued
a statement saying she had known local mobster Klaas Bruinsma for a few
months while a student, but had stopped seeing him when she learned of "the
practices he engaged in." "This is not good for the royal family but I would
not call it a crisis" Still, last week, a bodyguard of Bruinsma, who was
shot dead in a gangland killing in 1991, claimed the pair had been lovers.

In a meeting with the Dutch prime minister last week, Wisse Smit agreed that
she had had a closer relationship with Bruinsma. She continued to deny any
business or romantic involvement. "This is not good for the royal family but
I would not call it a crisis," Balkenende said. The affair, dubbed
"Mabelgate", is the latest in a string of controversies that have plagued
Dutch royal liaisons.

Support

Wisse Smit, an economics and political science graduate, was also a close
friend of former Bosnian foreign minister and UN ambassador Muhamed
Sacirbey, who was arrested in New York in March for allegedly stealing $2.5
million from his government.

She has worked for the United Nations, George Soros's Open Society Institute
and a non-governmental organisation promoting democracy and stability in the
Balkans. Soros, a wealthy philanthropist, joined ex-European commissioner
Emma Bonino, former French minister and UN envoy Bernard Kouchner and eight
others in signing an open letter backing Wisse Smit earlier this week.

Source:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4D588257-9E53-46E3-940B-B412FACF2EA2.
htm