Royal House announces Crown Princess has restarted treatment

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway has begun treatment for her chronic lung disease. The Norwegian Royal House announced on Friday, Oct. 11, that the 51 year old had restarted her treatment.

"Previous experience has shown that the medicines can lead to side effects that can have consequences for the Crown Princess's official programme," the Royal House said (translated to English). "Therefore, we find it natural to share this information this time. We will inform you about changes to the official program if necessary."

It was revealed in 2018 that the Crown Princess had been diagnosed with a chronic pulmonary disease. At the time, Mette-Marit said (translated to English): "For a number of years, I have had health challenges on a regular basis, and now we know more about what is involved. 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."

© Rune Hellestad - Corbis

According to the Crown Princess’ physician, Professor Kristian Bjøro (via the Royal House), the royal mom of three had "undergone extensive medical examination over some time and an unusual variant of fibrosis has been detected in the lungs." The Royal House noted back then that it was not yet clear whether the pulmonary disease was "linked to a more extensive autoimmune disease process, or whether there are other causes that underlie the lung changes." 

The royal's doctor shared that the hospital had been monitoring the Crown Princess' lung condition for several years, and that the disease progression had been slow throughout that period.  "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 Crown Princess said in 2018.

The day before the Royal House announced that Mette-Marit had restarted her treatment, the Crown Princess visited the Nic Waals Institute in Oslo with her husband, Crown Prince Haakon. Mette-Marit has been married to the heir to the Norwegian throne since 2001. The Crown Princess and Crown Prince share two kids: Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 20, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 18. Mette-Marit also has a 27-year-old son, Marius Borg Høiby, from a previous relationship.