14 August 2013

Funeral of Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau to take place on 16 August 2013

The Dutch Government Information Service (RVD) on behalf of the Royal Family announced yesterday that the funeral service for Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau will take place in the afternoon of Friday 16 August 2013 in the Stulpkerk in Lage Vuursche in the municipality of Baarn (province of Utrecht). The service will be officiated by Reverend Carel A. ter Linden. After the funeral the prince will be interred in the adjacent cemetery. A memorial service will take place later in the year.

Prince Friso and his brothers grew up at the Drakestein Castle (Kasteel Drakensteyn) closeby, and as Princess Beatrix is to take up permanent residence at the castle later this year, it means she will be able to visit her son's grave regularly, as the cemetery is only a short walk from the castle. In fact, as commented by Berno at the Benelux Royals Message Board yesterday, the then Queen Beatrix donated in 2008 400 square meters of land to the church as there was no more space for new graves.

After the announcement of Prince Friso's death, the Dutch media seemed to be certain that the prince was to be interred in the royal crypt at Delft. Personally I think it is a good idea "to bring Prince Friso home" to the place where he grew up. It is also nice that he will be buried in a public cemetery.

The Norwegian Royal Court confirmed today that King Harald is to attend the funeral service on Friday. The king was one of Prince Friso's sponsors (godparents) and was also present at Friso and Mabel's wedding in 2004 together with Queen Sonja. According to the official program of the Norwegian Royal Court, the service will start at 3 p.m.

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