Crown Princess of Norway undergoes lung transplant just days after son jailed for rape
Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit has undergone a successful lung transplant just days after her son was jailed for rape.
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Princess Mette-Marit is recovering from the procedure, the royal household said in a statement on Wednesday.
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.
"Like all newly transplanted patients, the crown princess will remain at the hospital for several weeks to come," Oslo University Hospital Professor Are Holm said in a statement provided by the palace.
On Monday, her son, Marius Borg Høiby, 29, was jailed for four years for two counts on rape and domestic violence.
Oslo University Hospital on June 5 said Mette-Marit had been placed on a waiting list for a lung transplant after a significant deterioration in her health that likely gave her only a year to live without the surgery.
The crown prince and crown princess thanked the public for the warm and kind greetings they had received recently, the palace said.
The next public update on her health is only expected when she is discharged from hospital, it added.
Crown Prince Haakon in December said the family had noticed a change in Mette-Marit's condition and that she was struggling more to breathe.
Mette-Marit was last seen in public on 17 May. By that point, she needed a nasal tube connected to an oxygen device.
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The lung transplant and conviction of Marous has brought renewed scrutiny on the royal family's once picture-perfect image and further dented their popularity and once very positive reputation.
It coincided with Crown Princess Mette-Marit's apology for "poor judgement" in maintaining contact with the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after he was convicted in 2008.
A Norstat survey out on February 21 - during the trial of Marius - showed a fall in the number of Norwegians favouring keeping the monarchy to a record low of 60%, from 70% in January, and a rise to 27% from 19% in those wanting a different system of governance.
In May, the royal family recovered somewhat in popularity, with 64% polled by Norstat supporting the monarchy and 23% wanting a different system of governance.
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 much of the nation.