Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit Placed on Lung Transplant Waiting List

Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been placed on the national waiting list for a lung transplant after further deterioration of her health, the royal household stated on Friday. The palace said the decision followed thorough medical examinations.

“As a result of her life-threatening chronic lung disease and after thorough health examinations, her royal highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been placed on the lung transplant list,” the statement read.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 52, is the wife of Crown Prince Haakon, heir to the Norwegian throne. She was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018. The disease causes scarring in the lungs and reduces oxygen uptake.

Oslo University Hospital said in December that the time was approaching when a transplant must be performed, though the crown princess had not yet been placed on Norway’s list of possible recipients at that point. Crown Prince Haakon said earlier this week that Mette-Marit’s condition had deteriorated and that she was struggling more to breathe.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere praised the crown princess for being open about her condition and said this could help others suffering from similar problems.

Mette-Marit was 25, an unmarried single mother and a commoner when she met Haakon at a music festival in 1999. Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 22, is returning to Norway from the University of Sydney to be by the side of Crown Princess Mette-Marit. “Ingrid Alexandra plans to come home soon.

It has to do with the family situation. She wants to be with her mother,” Crown Prince Haakon said during an official visit to Japan, according to Norwegian broadcaster NRK. The princess is in the middle of a three-year degree in international relations and political economy.

While she is expected to eventually return to Australia, Haakon said it is unclear how long she will remain at home. Last week, Haakon revealed the seriousness of her condition. “The Crown Princess is seriously ill, and I think she has gotten a bit worse lately,” he said, according to NRK.

” “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 added. The Norwegian royal palace announced in March that Mette-Marit’s health had deteriorated.

Just days ago, officials also cut short Haakon’s trip to Japan because of her health situation. Mette-Marit has recently been seen at public events wearing a nasal cannula. Asked whether she could eventually need a lung transplant, Haakon said, “It’s a medical question.

So they’re the ones who decide when it should happen, when it’s right. ” Princess Ingrid Alexandra is the eldest child of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit. She is second in line to the throne behind her father and is expected to one day become Norway’s monarch.

The health crisis has hit multiple generations of the royal family. Haakon’s mom, Queen Sonja, 88, was hospitalized with atrial fibrillation and heart failure on May 27. The palace said she would take a week off royal duties to rest and adjust her medication.

She received a pacemaker in January 2025. King Harald, 89, has also faced a string of health setbacks in recent years, including leg surgery, multiple COVID-19 infections and pacemaker surgery in 2024. In February, he was hospitalized in Tenerife with an infection and dehydration while on vacation.

The family’s latest troubles come just days after a Sydney court issued a two-year restraining order against a man accused of stalking Princess Ingrid Alexandra. David James Cook, 63, was banned from contacting the princess or any member of the Norwegian royal family after allegedly sending a letter to her residence at St Andrew’s College, 9News reported.

Security intercepted the correspondence before it reached her.

“I sent her a card just asking for friendship, that’s all,” Cook told reporters outside court. “I did not intentionally upset her in any way and I wouldn’t do so. She’s a nice person. ” Hours later, Cook was charged with allegedly assaulting a photographer.

Police said the photographer suffered minor injuries. Cook was released from custody and is due back in court July 17.