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Crown Prince Haakon Shortens Japan Visit by One Day to Return to Crown Princess Mette-Marit
Crown Prince Haakon will keep Tokyo engagements June 1-3 but cancel the June 4 stop in Hachinohe. The change follows statements that Crown Princess Mette-Marit has grown more ill with chronic pulmonary fibrosis.
May 30, 8:13 AM·1m read1 source
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Crown Prince Haakon is shortening his official trip to Japan by one day because of the health of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, the Norwegian Royal House announced on Friday. He will keep his scheduled meetings in Tokyo from June 1-3 but will not travel to the coastal city of Hachinohe on June 4. The Crown Prince, 52, had been expected to meet Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako.
The Palace stated that the one-day reduction was made solely due to the Crown Princess's condition. Crown Prince Haakon told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that his wife is seriously ill and has gotten a bit worse lately. He said she now depends on supplemental oxygen in her daily routine, noting that it helps a bit.
Decisions about a possible lung transplant rest with medical professionals, he added. "It's a medical question. So they're the ones who decide when it should happen, when it's right," he said. Crown Princess Mette-Marit, also 52, received her diagnosis of chronic pulmonary fibrosis in 2018.
The incurable lung condition has required ongoing management, and her most recent public appearance was on May 17 at the royal residence Skaugum near Oslo during Norwegian Constitution Day celebrations. Crown Prince Haakon described the recent period as mixed. "These six months have gone pretty well, I think.
But there are different phases. So we just have to try to solve it as best we can," he said. The couple married in 2001 and have two children: Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 22, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 20.
Other members of the Norwegian royal family have also faced health issues. Queen Sonja, 88, was admitted to hospital earlier this week after cancelling duties due to cardiac problems; she has since been discharged following medication adjustments. King Harald, 89, underwent a leg operation in 2022, experienced two bouts of Covid in 2022 and 2023, had pacemaker surgery in 2024, and required hospitalisation in February 2026 while on holiday for infection and dehydration.
