Michael Halbye, a top Lego executive and close friend of the Danish Royal family, has died in a tragic skiing accident in Verbier, Switzerland, on April 12. The 64-year-old Danish financier, Deputy Chairman of Kirkbi—the firm managing the Lego family’s multi-billion-euro fortune—was airlifted to hospital but died from internal bleeding shortly after arrival.

Tributes have poured in from colleagues and royalty. Lego chairman Thomas Kirk Kristiansen said he was “deeply saddened” by the loss of his trusted deputy, remembering Halbye as both a colleague and a person. Queen Mary of Denmark called him a “valued colleague and loyal friend,” and described his sudden death as “a great personal loss.