Dutch Prince Dies After Avalanche Tragedy

Dutch Prince Johan Friso has died at the age of 44, more than a year after he was buried in an avalanche.

At 44 he was the youngest brother of King Willem-Alexander and died in The Hague from complications resulting from the brain damage he suffered after his skiing accident 18 months ago.

The prince had been off-piste in Lech, Austria when the avalanche struck in February 2012.

He was initially treated in a London hospital and was brought back to The Hague in a coma last month.

In a statement, the Dutch royal family said Prince Friso had never regained more than "minimal consciousness" after the tragedy.

The government said he died "from complications that arose as a consequence of the brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation following his skiing accident".

He died at the Palace Huis ten Bosch, where he was being cared for.

A source said his mother or one of his brothers had visited him in hospital every week since the accident.

Prince Friso renounced his right to the Dutch throne when he married a commoner whose past was considered too racy for her to become a member of the Dutch royal family.

When he asked for permission in 2003 to marry Mabel Wisse Smit, Dutch media published details of her relationship with mobster Klaas Bruinsma, who was shot and killed in 1991 in front of the Amsterdam Hilton hotel.