Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway cancels special birthday outing due to illness

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, who suffers from chronic pulmonary fibrosis, has cancelled a royal engagement at the last minute due to illness.

The 49-year-old was due to visit Finnmark on Tuesday as part of a collection of engagements to mark her 50th birthday later this year.

Instead, her husband Crown Prince Haakon stepped out solo to open a new primary school and later visited Sami College.

Norway’s royal palace shared images from Haakon’s visit on the official Instagram account, stating: ‘The visit to Kautokeino school is part of the Crown Prince couple’s travels around Norway in connection with their 50th birthday. Crown Princess Mette-Marit also came to Finnmark, but had unfortunately fallen ill and was prevented from attending the visits.’

She was diagnosed with chronic pulmonary fibrosis in October 2018 and has previously said the life-limiting condition causes her to become ‘exhausted faster than before’.

The disease has no known cure, causes breathing problems as scar tissue forms on the lungs, and has forced her to slow down her hectic schedule of royal duties.

According to Royal Central in 2019, Mette-Marit was using medication to aid her in keeping track of the disease.

She reportedly knew about her rare lung disease ‘for quite some time’, before going public.

‘I can decide more about my everyday life and I realise how good it is to me. I can just go for a walk and have more time to read, life has slowed down,’ she told an interviewer.

Speaking at the time, she said that she found it difficult to talk about her condition.

‘I am well aware of my state of health, but I do not want it to get so much attention from outside, which is one of the reasons why I like my “new little life” so much.’

The Princess spoke of continuing life as normal, at the time of her diagnosis.

The Royal Court released a statement when the Princess was diagnosed, revealing that she is continually being monitored by medical professionals.

A statement from the Royal Court said: ‘The Crown Princess has undergone extensive investigations related to her health and an unusual variant of fibrosis has been detected in the lungs, according to the Crown Princess’s doctor, Professor Kristian Bj?ro at the National Hospital.

‘It is not yet clear whether the pulmonary disease is linked to a more extensive autoimmune disease process or if there are other causes that underlie the lung changes.’

The princess added: ‘Although such a diagnosis in times will limit my life, I’m glad that the disease has been discovered so early.

‘My goal is still to work and participate in the official programme as much as possible.’

Crown Princess Mette-Marit was diagnosed with chronic pulmonary fibrosis, just months after revealing that she was suffering from Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV), which can cause a loss of balance, dizziness and nausea.

The Royal is a particularly rare case as chronic pulmonary fibrosis typically occurs in people aged between 70-75.

According to the NHS, ‘before the availability of treatments like pirfenidone and nintedanib, about half of people with IPF lived at least 3 years from their diagnosis. Around 1 in 5 survived for more than 5 years’.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit married into the Norway royal family in 2001.