Crown Princess to undergo lung transplant after health deteriorates

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway is anticipated to undergo a lung transplant following a significant deterioration in her health over recent months, the royal household confirmed on Friday.

The 52-year-old, the wife of Crown Prince Haakon, heir to the Norwegian throne, was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018.

The chronic disease causes scarring in the lungs, leading to a reduced oxygen uptake.

Recent tests have shown a "clear negative development" in the Crown Princess's health, according to a statement from the palace.

"I had hoped to keep this illness in check with medicines, and the progression has been quite slow, but now it's gone more rapidly than both I and the doctors had anticipated," Mette-Marit told public broadcaster NRK.

It has not yet been decided when she will be placed on the transplant waiting list, the palace said.

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"We are approaching the time when a lung transplant must be performed, and we are making the necessary preparations so that it will be possible when that time comes," Professor Are Martin Holm of the Oslo University Hospital's pulmonary unit said in the same statement.

Crown Prince Haakon said the family had noticed the change in Mette-Marit's condition.

"We have seen that she is struggling more to breathe," Haakon told NRK in the joint interview with his wife.

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

"I think all of Norway wishes her all the best, and that she gets good treatment and a speedy recovery," Mr Stoere told NRK.

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Mette-Marit is in growing need of rest, but had expressed a "strong interest in continuing to carry out her duties", the palace’s statement said.

"The Crown Princess’ official programme will be organised to adapt her activities to her health situation to the greatest extent possible."

Mette-Marit was 25, an unmarried single mother and a commoner when she met Haakon at a music festival in 1999.

It was the beginning of an unlikely royal romance that started with a media furore and ended up winning over the bulk of the nation.