Reuters —
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway has undergone a successful lung transplant and is on the road to recovery, the royal family announced in a statement on Wednesday.
The 52-year-old wife of Crown Prince Haakon, heir to the Norwegian throne, was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018. Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic disease that causes scarring in the lungs and reduced oxygen uptake.
“Like all newly transplanted patients, the Crown Princess will remain in the hospital for the next few weeks,” Professor Ar Holm of Oslo University Hospital said in a statement provided by the palace.
The surgery comes at a tense time for the royal family. Earlier this week, Mette-Marit’s 29-year-old son from a previous marriage, Marius Borg Hojbi, was found guilty of rape and domestic violence and sentenced to four years in prison.
Oslo University Hospital announced on June 5 that Mette-Marit’s health has deteriorated so much that she is likely to only have a year to live without surgery and has been placed on the waiting list for a lung transplant.
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess thanked the public for the warm and kind greetings they had received recently, the palace said. It added that the next public announcement regarding her health status will be made only when she is discharged from the hospital.
Crown Prince Haakon said in December that the family noticed a change in Mette-Marit’s condition and that she was having more trouble breathing.
Prime Minister Jonas Gare Storey praised the Crown Princess for being open about her illness, saying this could help people suffering from similar symptoms.
When she met Haakon at a music festival in 1999, Mette-Marit was 25 years old, an unmarried single mother, and an ordinary person. It was the beginning of an unexpected royal romance that started with a media buzz and eventually captivated a large portion of the nation.
Royal family hit by scandal
But polls show support for the Norwegian monarchy has taken a hit this year after several scandals broke at once.
Mr Hoiby’s conviction on Monday was announced after a highly publicized trial that dominated the headlines.
Meanwhile, the Crown Princess apologized to the King and Queen for her contact with the late American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whom she called a “friend” but cut ties with in the years before his death in 2019.
In a February Norstat poll conducted during Mr. Whiby’s trial, support for preserving the monarchy fell to an all-time low of 60%, but it had rebounded slightly to 64% in May.
