Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit Receives Successful Lung Transplant at Oslo University Hospital

Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit has undergone a lung transplant at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet in Oslo, the Norwegian Royal Household confirmed on Wednesday, June 17.

The procedure went well. "The lung transplant has been successful thus far," said Arnt Fiane, Professor of Medicine at the University of Oslo, cardiothoracic surgeon, and Head of the Heart and Lung Transplant Programme at Oslo University Hospital, in the official palace statement published by the Royal House of Norway.

The medical backdrop

Mette-Marit, 52, was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018. Pulmonary fibrosis causes progressive lung scarring and reduces oxygen uptake. The disease has no cure; transplant is the only option when it advances far enough.

Her condition deteriorated noticeably in the latter part of 2025. Crown Prince Haakon said publicly in December that the family had noticed a change and that she was struggling more to breathe, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Oslo University Hospital placed Mette-Marit on the transplant waiting list on June 5 after what it described as a significant deterioration in her health. Without surgery, physicians estimated she likely had no more than a year to live, according to the New York Post.

She was last seen in public on May 17, Norway's National Day, wearing a breathing tube connected to an oxygen device, as reported by BBC News.

What happens next

Are Holm, Professor of Medicine at the University of Oslo and senior respiratory specialist at Oslo University Hospital, said in the palace statement that Mette-Marit will remain hospitalized "for several weeks to come." He described the extended stay as standard practice: adjusting medication, managing potential complications, and beginning rehabilitation.

Cardiothoracic surgeon Fiane used the phrase "thus far" deliberately. Lung transplant recipients face a meaningful post-operative risk window. The coming weeks will determine whether the body accepts the new organ. The palace stated the next public health update will come when she is discharged.

Crown Prince Haakon will adjust his official schedule to be present during her recovery, the palace confirmed.

A strained moment for the monarchy

The transplant comes two days after a painful verdict in the family's immediate circle. Marius Borg Høiby, Mette-Marit's 29-year-old son from a relationship before she met Haakon, was convicted of rape and domestic violence on Monday and sentenced to four years in prison, according to BBC News and the New York Post. Høiby is not a royal figure. He denied the most serious charges and his lawyers indicated he would appeal.

Ahead of the verdict, Høiby's legal team had repeatedly sought his release from prison so he could spend time with his mother given her declining health. Those requests were denied.

A son facing serious criminal allegations was nonetheless a child present during his mother's most serious health crisis, and the court's repeated refusals to grant temporary release prevented him from being with her before surgery. That is a humanitarian concern regardless of how one views the verdict itself.

The court's denials reflect standard Norwegian practice, not cruelty. Granting pre-verdict release on those grounds would set a precedent that any defendant with an ill family member could exploit. The verdicts and the transplant are legally and procedurally separate.

Support for the Norwegian monarchy has declined this year amid multiple simultaneous scandals, according to the New York Post. Mette-Marit also separately apologized to King Harald and Queen Sonja for her past contact with the late American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a controversy that drew significant Norwegian media coverage.

Her story

Mette-Marit was 25, a commoner and unmarried single mother, when she met Crown Prince Haakon at a music festival in 1999. The relationship triggered a media storm. Over time, her openness and personal warmth won broad public support. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre praised her specifically for going public about her pulmonary fibrosis diagnosis, saying her transparency could help other Norwegians living with similar conditions, according to the Jerusalem Post and New York Post.

Historian and royal commentator Ole-Jørgen Schulsrud-Hansen told BBC News that the successful transplant is "very happy news for the Norwegian royal family and the Kingdom of Norway."

The unresolved question now is organ acceptance. Lung transplants carry a higher rejection rate than many other organ transplants, and the post-operative weeks are medically critical. The palace has been explicit that it will not provide updates until discharge, meaning the public timeline for any next development is open-ended.