2 min read
Crown Prince Haakon is cutting his official trip to Japan short as concern mounts over the health of his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit. The Royal House of Norway announced over the weekend that Crown Prince Haakon would cancel the final leg of his visit, skipping a planned stop in the port city of Hachinohe on June 4 while keeping his full schedule in Tokyo from June 1-3. Haakon is scheduled to have dinner with Emperor Naruhito as well as a meeting with Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko.
The couple’s daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, is also returning to Norway soon. The Princess and second-in-line to the Norwegian throne is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in international relations and political economy at the University of Sydney. “She plans to come home soon. It has to do with the family situation. That she wants to be with her mother,” Crown Prince Haakon told reporters in Tokyo on Monday. “She plans to complete her studies in Australia, but we’ll have to come back to how long she stays home.”
The decision follows days of unusually candid public statements from the Norwegian royal family about Mette-Marit’s condition. She was diagnosed with chronic pulmonary fibrosis in 2018 and has been seen using supplemental oxygen at recent public appearances. “The Crown Princess is seriously ill, and I think she has gotten a bit worse lately,” Haakon told the press last week. “So I am worried about her health. She uses oxygen in her everyday life, and that helps a bit.”
When asked whether Mette-Marit, 52, would be placed on a lung transplant list, Haakon said the decision rested with her doctors. “It’s up to the doctors, it’s a medical question. So they’re the ones who decide when it should happen, when it’s right. But I think she’s gotten a lot worse lately, unfortunately.” King Harald echoed those concerns on Thursday during an engagement in western Norway. “She is seriously ill. There is no doubt about that, unfortunately.”
LISE ASERUD//Getty Images
Mette-Marit, wearing a nasal oxygen device, with her husband at a reception for Norway’s Olympians and Paralympians in April.
The royal family is managing several health challenges simultaneously. Queen Sonja, 88, was admitted to the National Hospital in Oslo last week after being diagnosed with heart failure and atrial fibrillation. She has since been discharged. “Her form is much better,” King Harald said. “It wasn’t good when I left. She was a little depressed then because she wasn’t allowed to be here. That she wasn’t able to do what she did before, but as far as I understand, she is much better than she was when I left. Now the medication is under control.”
Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at @rk.passport.