OSLO, Norway (AP) 鈥� Norway鈥檚 Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been placed on a lung transplant list, Norway鈥檚 Royal Court said in a statement.
Mette-Marit, 52, was with pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive disease that damages and scars lung tissue. It can cause serious breathing problems, and there is no known cure.
She will suspend her official duties and a new medical update will only be provided after the lung transplant has taken place, the statement said Friday. After discharge from the hospital, 鈥渢here will be a longer period of rehabilitation and training鈥� during which 鈥渢here will initially be no updates.”
鈥淭he Crown Princess has had a significant worsening of her pulmonary fibrosis over the past six months. We see in the pictures that much more scar tissue has developed over the past year,鈥� lung specialist Are Holm at Oslo鈥檚 University Hospital is quoted by Norway鈥檚 public broadcaster NRK as saying.
鈥淭he rule of thumb for who should be put on the list for lung transplantation is that the patient should be so sick with lung disease that we have reason to believe that the patient only has one year left to live,鈥� he added.
Holm explained that the hospital has guidelines for prioritizing people on the waiting list and said it wasn鈥檛 possible to predict when she would be able to undergo the transplant, depending on when a 鈥渟uitable organ becomes available.” He also said there were currently short waiting times and that they 鈥渇ollow protocol exactly in this case.鈥�
Mette-Marit for the situation she put in as she faced scrutiny over her contact with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, part of a broader apology for all those she has 鈥渄isappointed.鈥�
Crown Princess Mette-Marit鈥檚 communications and contacts with have put her in the spotlight, adding to the embarrassment of the royals just as her son, Marius Borg H酶iby, went in February for multiple offenses, including charges of rape.
H酶iby, 29, is the eldest son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship and has no royal title or official duties.
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