Dutch monarch strikes somber Queen's Day note
(CBS/AP) The Dutch royal family marked its first Queen's Day Monday since Prince Johan Friso fell into a coma during a skiing accident in Austria in February.
"It is sad that our family is not complete, but we will pass on all the good wishes we have felt and heard," Queen Beatrix said during the annual April 30 festivities honoring the 74-year-old monarch who took over the Dutch throne on April 30, 1980.
Pictures: 2012 Queen's Day
Photos: Prince Johan Friso
Read more: The prince's skiing accident
Forty-three-year-old Johan Friso, the second of the queen's three sons, was buried under an avalanche in Lech, Austria, for 20 minutes on Feb. 17. His doctors have said he suffered serous brain damage due to oxygen shortage.
The prince has since been transferred from the hospital in Austria, where he was initially treated, to a clinic in London.
According to Hello! magazine, the queen and other members of the royal family joined in festivities in the province of Utrecht (each year, the monarch visits a different town to celebrate) taking part in barbecues, a tug of war, cycle races, boat tours, soccer games and crafts fairs.
The festivities were disturbed in 2009 due to a failed attack on the royal family - an unemployed recluse attempted to slam his car into a bus carrying the queen and other members of her family, killing seven bystanders and himself