Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway’s incurable lung disease has ‘progressed’ and royal ‘needs more rest’, palace announces

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway’s chronic disease has progressed, it has been announced.

The Norwegian Royal Court confirmed today that 51-year-old Mette-Marit is having daily symptoms due to her pulmonary fibrosis and requires ‘more rest’.

‘The Crown Princess needs more rest, and her daily routine changes more quickly than before,’ the palace said in a press release, adding: ‘This means that changes to her official schedule may occur more frequently and at shorter notice than we are used to.’

The court warned late last year that Mette-Marit’s pulmonary fibrosis may interfere with her planned duties.

It comes amid a difficult time for the Norwegian royal family as the Crown Princess’s son, Marius Borg Høiby, 28, faces assault charges against several former partners following his arrest last August.

Today’s statement read: ‘Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s chronic disease pulmonary fibrosis has progressed.

‘The Crown Princess has daily symptoms and ailments that affect her ability to perform her duties.

‘The Crown Princess needs more rest, and her daily routine changes more quickly than before. This means that changes to her official schedule may occur more frequently and at shorter notice than we are used to.

‘The Crown Princess has a strong desire to continue working, and therefore we will organise her official programme in the future in the best possible way so that her health and work can be combined.’ 

Mette-Marit’s health condition was first made public in 2018, when it was revealed she had been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis or the thickening of lung tissue.

At the time, Mette-Marit issued a statement explaining that the condition ‘means my working capacity will vary’ to accommodate her treatment including ‘periods of time without an official programme’.

‘For a number of years, I have had health challenges on a regular basis, and now we know more about what is involved,’ the mother-of-three said. ‘The condition means that my working capacity will vary.

‘The Crown Prince and I are choosing to make this public now partly because in future there will be a need to plan periods of time without an official programme to accommodate treatment and when the disease is more active.’

Pulmonary fibrosis is incurable and worsens over time, but the Norwegian royal’s doctor, Professor Kristian Bjøro at the National Hospital, said they’d been monitoring her condition for several years and the ‘disease progression has been slow over this period’.

The wife of Crown Prince Haakon requires ‘more rest’, the palace said in a press statement today

It no doubt comes amid a troubling time for Matte-Marit, as her son, Marius Borg Høiby, 28, faces assault charges against several former partners following his arrest in August (seen together in June, 2022)

Not much is known about the unusual variant of fibrosis that was detected in Mette-Marit’s lung but, according to the Royal House, ‘there is broad consensus that, unlike other more common types of pulmonary fibrosis, it is not related to environmental or lifestyle factors’. 

The fact that the disease was detected at an early stage improves Mette-Marit’s prognosis, as per the Palace’s official statement.

‘Even if such a diagnosis will limit my life at times, I am glad that the disease has been discovered so early. My goal is still to work and participate in the official programme as much as possible,’ the mother-of-three said.

According to the NHS, the symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis include shortness of breath, loss of appetite and weight loss, extreme tiredness, a persistent dry cough, and swollen fingertips.

Days after the palace announced that Mette-Marit had resumed her treatment for pulmonary fibrosis, hinting it might impact her schedule, Mette-Marit visited the Nic Waals Institute in Oslo with her husband, the Crown Prince Haakon.

Mette-Marit married Haakon, the heir to the Norwegian throne, in 2001. They share two children, Princess Ingrid Alexanda, 21, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 19.

Mette-Marit’s eldest son Marius Borg Høiby, is from a previous relationship. Since she married into the royal family, Marius has been dubbed the ‘black sheep’ of the institution.

Her health woes will no doubt be another headache for the mother-of-three as they grapple with the sensational fallout of Marius’s arrest on August 4. He later admitted to assaulting his ‘girlfriend’ in a booze and drug-fuelled attack that left her in hospital.

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit during a visit to Selbu middle school last September 

He was taken into custody and held overnight in a prison cell under preliminary charges of causing bodily harm and criminal damage. He faces up to a year in prison if convicted. 

After his arrest, Høiby apologised for attacking Rebecca Helberg Arntsen, whom he referred to as his ‘girlfriend’ (her lawyers have refuted this claim) while intoxicated with ‘alcohol and cocaine’. 

In a statement issued via his lawyer, Høiby said he ‘suffers from severe mental disorders’ and has ‘struggled with substance abuse for a long time’.  

The statement read: ‘I have several mental disorders which mean that throughout my upbringing and adult life, I have had, and still have, challenges. I have struggled with substance abuse for a long time, something I have been in treatment for in the past.

‘The drug use and my diagnoses do not excuse what happened in the apartment at Frogner on the night of Sunday last weekend. I want to be responsible for what I have done, and will explain myself truthfully to the police.’ 

In the wake of the scandal, the Norwegian Palace confirmed Høiby would not attend the wedding of Princess Martha Louise to self-proclaimed shaman Durek Verett in Geiranger Fjord on August 31.

The Crown Prince’s embattled stepson was also reportedly uninvited from the high-profile wedding of Norwegian businessman Øystein Stray Spetalen’s son, after guests feared his presence would draw unwanted media attention.  

Mette-Marit and the Crown Prince share two children together, and the Crown Princess also has a son, Marius Borg Høiby, from a previous marriage (seen together in June, 2023)

Former motorcycle mechanic Høiby was taken into custody for a second time after he allegedly violated a restraining order granted to Rebecca and contacted her in the wake of the assault. 

Høiby has denied the allegation. 

Norwegian tabloid VG has since published what it claimed were clips from two phone calls between the 28-year-old and his victim after the violent episode and vandalism in an apartment in Oslo on the night of August 4.

During the conversation, former motorcycle mechanic Borg Høiby reportedly defended his assault as a ‘little pat on the back…hit you with a flat hand’.

But the woman allegedly replies that he hit her a hundred times and strangled her at least five times until she struggled to breathe, according to the Norwegian report after it was translated into English.

Borg Høiby also reportedly threatened to burn the victim’s belongings in a bin if she didn’t collect them from Skaugum Castle, his family’s official residence, by a certain time.

Last month, Marius Borg Høiby was accused of raping a TV presenter in another alleged sexual assault case against the 28-year-old son of Norway’s future queen.

The alleged assault took place at his royal residence in a ‘castle basement party’ with police believed to have a video clip of the alleged attack, according to Se og hor.

The presenter reportedly did not remember the alleged attack and only became aware of it after she was informed by law enforcement officials.

Borg Høiby, who is under investigation for multiple sexual assault cases and drug offences, has reportedly not commented on the latest allegations.