Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit placed on list for lung transplant, palace says

Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been placed on a waiting ​list for a lung transplant after a further ‌deterioration of her health, the royal household said in a statement on Friday.

The 52-year-old wife of Crown Prince Haakon, the heir ​to the Norwegian throne, was diagnosed with pulmonary ​fibrosis in 2018, a chronic disease that causes ⁠scarring in the lungs and leads to a reduced ​oxygen uptake.

“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 palace ​said.

Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been placed on a waiting ​list for a lung transplant. Getty Images

Mette-Marit, pictured with husband Crown Prince Haakon and son Prince Sverre Magnus, is battling pulmonary ​fibrosis. Lise Åserud/NTB Scanpix via AP

Oslo University Hospital in December said the time was approaching ​when a transplant must be performed but that the crown princess ‌had ⁠not yet been placed on Norway’s list of possible recipients.

Crown Prince Haakon earlier this week said Mette-Marit’s condition had deteriorated and that she was struggling more to breathe.

Prime ​Minister Jonas ​Gahr Stoere has ⁠praised the crown princess for being open about her condition and has 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, the ⁠beginning of ​an unlikely royal romance that ​started with a media furore and ended up winning over the bulk ​of the nation.