Avalanche buries prince

Dutch Prince Johan Friso was in critical but stable condition in intensive care yesterday after an avalanche buried him while he was skiing off piste in the Austrian alps.

The Austria Press Agency said the 43-year-old, middle son of Queen Beatrix, was in Innsbruck’s university clinic.

The Dutch royal family often spends winter holidays in Lech in the western province of Vorarlberg — which like other parts of Austria has been blanketed with heavy snow in recent weeks.

Johan Friso is not an heir to the throne because he married scandal-tinged Mabel Wisse Smit without government permission in 2004. He would otherwise have been second in line ahead of his younger brother.