Prince dies 18 months after skiing avalanche

Johan Friso, the bespectacled Dutch prince who avoided the limelight and gave up his position in line to the throne after getting entangled in a scandal with his bride-to-be, died yesterday, 18 months after a skiing accident that left his brain gravely injured. He was 44.

The royal house said the prince, known as Friso, died of complications from the accident. It said he had never regained more than “minimal consciousness”.