Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been placed on a one-week sick leave, the Norwegian palace has confirmed. This comes just weeks after the 51-year-old future Queen Consort began treatment for pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung condition that damages lung tissue.
A statement from the royal court, released on Wednesday, explained: “Due to side effects from the medication the Crown Princess must take for her chronic lung disease, she is on sick leave, initially for a week. Engagements during this period will be cancelled or postponed.”
Mette-Marit’s diagnosis was first made public in October 2018. At the time, she shared: “I have faced regular health challenges for years, and now we have more clarity about them. Although the diagnosis will sometimes limit my life, I’m grateful it was detected early. I still aim to participate in the official program as much as possible.”
Since then, Mette-Marit has had to reduce her public duties, telling NRK in 2019, “I tire more quickly than before, so I now need to take better care of myself.”
The Crown Princess was last seen publicly on Monday, when she and her husband, Crown Prince Haakon, visited Berlin to mark the 25th anniversary of the Nordic countries’ joint embassy in the city.
They were joined by Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, and Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, for a joint ceremony and a formal dinner at the Bellevue presidential palace.
Mette-Marit and Haakon are parents to Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, and Prince Sverre Magnus. The Crown Princess also has an older son, Marius Borg Høiby, from a previous relationship. The family has faced challenges recently, as 27-year-old Marius admitted to assaulting his “girlfriend” after his arrest in August.
