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Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway has canceled her upcoming trip to Germany. The 51-year-old royal, who is the wife of Crown Prince Haakon, was scheduled to open the Norwegian guest country program and the Norwegian stand at the International Book Fair in Leipzig on Thursday, March 27. Three days before the Crown Princess' planned visit, the Norwegian Royal House announced that it had been canceled due to "ailments related to the Crown Princess' chronic illness, pulmonary fibrosis," and that Mette-Marit will now be on sick leave for two weeks.
Earlier this month, the Royal House shared an update on Mette-Marit's health, revealing that her chronic pulmonary fibrosis "has progressed." In a statement on March 6, the Royal House said (translated to English), "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 organize her official program in the future in the best possible way so that her health and work can be combined," the Royal House continued.
It was announced last October that King Harald V and Queen Sonja's daughter-in-law had restarted treatment for her chronic lung disease. Mette-Marit's chronic pulmonary disease diagnosis was revealed in 2018. At the time, the Crown Princess said, "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."
Back then, the Royal House shared that Mette-Marit's lung condition had been monitored for several years and that the disease progression had been slow over that period. It was also noted that the disease had been detected at an early stage. "Even if such a diagnosis will limit my life at times, I am glad that the disease has been discovered so early," the Crown Princess said in 2018. "My goal is still to work and participate in the official programme as much as possible."