On April 24, 2004, Mabel Wisse Smit married Prince Friso of the Netherlands in the Old Church of Delft in Delft, Netherlands.
For her wedding, Mabel (soon to be Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau) wore a very interesting and unique design by Dutch duo Viktor & Rolf. According to Order of Splendor, she turned down their more conservative designs and asked for something "memorable." The duo then delivered!
The white satin gown featured a bateau neckline with long sleeves. It also had a flared skirt that contained a 3.15-meter train. The train itself was unique as it featured several large bows all the way down (bows also featured in other places on the gown with a grand total of 248). The bows gained in size as they continued down the train. A short veil was included on the soon-to-be princess - held in place by smaller scale version of the Mellerio Sapphire Tiara.
Mabel had her hair in a bun and wore a pair of simple diamond drop earrings.
The Dutch Royal Family, naturally, all attended to nuptials. Foreign royals included King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway as Harald was one of Friso's godparents.
Controversy surrounded the union with the couple not requesting that the Dutch parliament approve the marriage. Royal Central reported, "Mabel met Prince Friso in Brussels in 2000. It has been rumoured that his sister-in-law, Princess Laurentien introduced the pair. Their relationship was confirmed in 2002, with their engagement announcement the following year. However, controversy soon surrounded them. It was revealed that the couple had been vague about Mabel’s connection to Dutch drug lord, Klaas Bruinsma. Prince Friso admitted in a letter to then Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende that he and Mabel had given incomplete information, but did not provide any inaccurate information. He admitted Mabel’s relationship had been closer than they had mentioned, but it was not romantic."
Friso was removed from the line of succession to the Dutch throne after they wed. The couple had two daughters together: Countess Luana, born on 26 March 2005, and Countess Zaria, born on 18 June 2006.
Tragedy struck in Austria when Prince Friso was buried in an avalanche in February 2012. After being deprived of oxygen for 25 minutes before being rescued, the Prince was flown to a nearby hospital in a coma. Later, he was transferred to a hospital in London where Mabel stayed by his side. They had been living in the city since they married. However, on 9 July 2013, Friso was transferred to back home to the Netherlands to Huis ten Bosch Palace. With some consciousness, he was surrounded by family and friends until he passed away on August 12, 2013. He was only 44.