Mabel de Orange-Nassau turns 58 after having lived a life that could be straight out of a movie. Or, in her case, a TV series. The widow of Prince Friso saw last year how her tragedies and scandals provided inspiration for something like a Dutch version of The Crown. This has not prevented her from continuing with her role as mother, friend and confidante of her sister-in-law, Queen Máxima, and as an activist. All of this crowned by her status as a billionaire thanks to her shrewdness in technology investments and the inheritance of her late husband.
The childhood of Mabel Martine Los was marked early by tragedy. When she was only nine years old, her father, Hendrik, died trying to rescue a neighbor who had sunk in the ice. The young woman studied Economics and Political Science and graduated cum laude in 1993. Her career led her to international development, human rights, and diplomacy. She began collaborating with organizations that worked with children affected by war and, over time, she became the first chief executive of The Elders, the international organization founded by Nelson Mandela.
When she met Friso of the Netherlands, brother of the now king Willem-Alexander, she was already an activist with an impressive professional track record of her own. But her relationship with the Dutch prince soon put her in the crosshairs. The couple became engaged in 2003, but what should have been a joyous royal announcement turned into a scandal. Journalists began investigating Mabel’s past and discovered that she had previously had a relationship with Klaas Bruinsma, one of the Netherlands’ most notorious drug traffickers.
The controversy could have ended their relationship, but both remained determined to marry, and on April 24, 2004, they wed in Delft. Since parliamentary approval had not been obtained, Friso lost his place in the line of succession. He had sacrificed his position for the woman he loved. The couple moved to London and started a family far from the heart of Dutch royal life, with two daughters: Luana (2005) and Zaria (2006).
The second tragedy of Mabel of the Netherlands
For several years, the family led a discreet life in the United Kingdom. But in February 2012, tragedy struck them again. While skiing in Austria, Friso was caught in an avalanche. Rescue teams eventually freed him, but he had been without oxygen for about 25 minutes, causing irreversible brain damage. The prince never regained consciousness. For Mabel, life suddenly became a nightmare. She was only 43, with two young daughters, and faced the distressing reality of seeing her husband in a coma.
Friso was eventually moved to a London hospital so that Mabel and her daughters could be near him, but 18 months later, the Dutch prince died at the age of 44. Rather than letting widowhood end her public life, the Princess of Orange-Nassau continued with the activism she had begun long before becoming a member of the Dutch royal family.
Mabel of the Netherlands, with her two daughters.
One of Mabel’s most important causes became the fight against child marriage. She helped found Girls Not Brides, a global alliance that fights to end this practice and to ensure that girls have the opportunity to continue their education and decide their own future. She has also worked intensively in the areas of human rights, international justice, and conflict prevention.
The origin of her impressive fortune
With a very close relationship to Queen Máxima and frequent visits to the Netherlands, Mabel combines charitable and philanthropic causes with the management of a large fortune. Her fortune is estimated at around 800 million euros, placing her among the wealthiest people in her country of origin. How did this capital come about? Before his death, Prince Friso invested in Adyen, a Dutch digital payments gateway startup that today processes transactions for giants such as Netflix and Spotify.
Mabel and Máxima, very smiley during a meeting in New York.
Upon becoming a widow, Mabel inherited those shares. When the company went public in 2018, her initial stake was already worth 131 million euros. She later sold part of her stake, realizing substantial cash gains, and kept the remainder. Adyen’s meteoric growth boosted her assets. In fact, her wealth has approached nearly a billion euros at market highs. Because of this, she has often been compared with other billionaires such as Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos.
