Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway Seen with Oxygen Device Amid Royal Family Crisis

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway appeared at an official public event on April 10, 2026, wearing a nasal oxygen cannula for the first time, marking a visible deterioration in her health as she attended a reception for Norwegian Paralympic athletes at the Royal Palace in Oslo. The 52-year-old princess wore the device — discrete nasal cannulas connected to an oxygen unit carried by a palace employee — throughout the reception, which honored athletes who competed at the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympic Games. She was accompanied by her husband, Crown Prince Haakon, and their two children, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus. According to the Norwegian news agency NTB, this was the first time the entire family of Crown Prince Haakon had appeared together at a public event since Christmas. The appearance drew widespread attention across Europe, as it provided the clearest public confirmation yet of how significantly Mette-Marit's condition has progressed.

Mette-Marit was officially diagnosed in 2018 with pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic and incurable lung disease that causes the formation of scar tissue in the lung, leading to shortness of breath and reduced respiratory function. In the years following her diagnosis, the princess periodically reduced her official schedule and took medical leave, but had not previously appeared at public engagements with visible breathing assistance equipment. The Royal Palace announced in December that a lung transplant could not be ruled out in the future, a statement confirmed by her pulmonologist, Aré Martin Holm, who noted that her condition had worsened.

Royal Palace confirms transplant may be unavoidable The Royal Palace has indicated that Mette-Marit may need to undergo a lung transplant, a procedure described in reports as a serious and high-risk intervention. Her pulmonologist, Aré Martin Holm, issued a statement confirming the worsening of her condition and noting that a transplant could not be ruled out. The princess had previously managed her illness largely out of public view, using breathing assistance only at private events, according to reporting by Notícias ao Minuto. The April 10 reception marked the first time she used such a device at an official work engagement. The oxygen unit was carried by a palace employee walking alongside her, making the medical equipment clearly visible in photographs that circulated widely across European media. The appearance was interpreted by several outlets as a deliberate decision by the royal family to project institutional continuity despite the princess's deteriorating health.

40% (of Norwegians) — hold a negative or very negative opinion of the Princess

Son faces 40 charges, including four counts of rape The public appearance came against a backdrop of significant personal and institutional strain for the Norwegian royal family. Marius Borg Høiby, Mette-Marit's eldest son from a relationship prior to her 2001 marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, is currently on trial facing 40 (charges) — charges against Marius Borg Høiby, including four counts of rape including four counts of rape and serious assault against several former partners. In March 2026, state prosecutors requested a sentence of seven years and seven months in prison for Høiby, who is 29 years old. Høiby admits to some of the facts alleged against him but denies the most serious accusations, particularly the alleged rapes against four women described as being in no condition to resist. He is currently held in prison due to a separate new crime committed the day before his trial began, for which he has not yet been tried. A verdict in the main trial is expected in approximately three months, according to reporting by 20 minutos. Høiby is not formally a member of the Norwegian royal family.

Epstein correspondence and a damaging poll weigh on the Crown Princess Adding to the family's difficulties, the publication of documents in the United States at the end of January revealed sustained correspondence between Mette-Marit and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein between 2011 and 2014, described in some reports as sometimes intimate in tone. In March 2026, the princess gave an interview to Norwegian public broadcaster NRK in which she addressed the correspondence directly. „Honestly, I wish I had never met him. But at the same time, it is very important for me to take responsibility for not having checked his background more carefully and for the fact that I was manipulated and deceived in the way I was.” — Mette-Marit via Notícias ao Minuto She also stated that the victims of Epstein's abuses, not herself, deserved sympathy and justice. A poll published by the Norwegian digital newspaper Nettavisen found that 40% of the Norwegian population held a negative or very negative opinion of the princess. Multiple polls cited in source articles indicate that a majority of Norwegians oppose the prospect of Mette-Marit ascending to the throne alongside Crown Prince Haakon. Despite the adverse climate, her decision to appear publicly alongside her family at the Paralympic reception was widely read as an effort to maintain her institutional role.