OSLO, Norway (AP) — The Norwegian Royal Court announced Friday that Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been added to a lung transplant waiting list due to her deteriorating medical condition.
The 52-year-old princess received a diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, a condition that progressively damages lung tissue and creates scarring. The disease leads to severe respiratory difficulties and has no available cure.
According to the Royal Court’s Friday statement, she will halt her official royal responsibilities, and medical updates will only be shared once the transplant surgery occurs. Following her hospital release, the statement noted there would be “a longer period of rehabilitation and training” with “initially no updates” provided during that time.
Lung specialist Are Holm from Oslo’s University Hospital told Norway’s public broadcaster NRK that “The Crown Princess has had a significant worsening of her pulmonary fibrosis over the past six months. We see in the pictures that much more scar tissue has developed over the past year.”
Holm further explained, “The rule of thumb for who should be put on the list for lung transplantation is that the patient should be so sick with lung disease that we have reason to believe that the patient only has one year left to live.”
The medical specialist noted that hospital protocols determine waiting list priorities and stated it was impossible to forecast when the transplant might occur, as it depends on when a “suitable organ becomes available.” Holm mentioned current waiting periods are brief and emphasized they “follow protocol exactly in this case.”
In February, Mette-Marit issued an apology regarding the difficulties she created for the royal family amid criticism over her interactions with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which was part of a broader statement of regret to all those she has “disappointed.”
The Crown Princess’s communications and relationships with Epstein have drawn public attention, contributing to royal family controversies as her son, Marius Borg Høiby, faced trial in Oslo in February on various charges, including rape allegations.
Høiby, 29, is Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s oldest child from an earlier relationship and holds no royal title or performs official royal functions.
