Norway's crown princess on lung transplant waiting list, palace says

Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit has been placed on a waiting list for a lung transplant, the country's royal household has said.

Mette-Marit, who suffers from an incurable lung disease, has suspended official duties and will have the operation as soon as a donor becomes available, it said.

The princess, who married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001, has been battling the illness while facing revelations about her association with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the rape trial of her son from a previous relationship, Marius Borg Høiby.

Høiby, who denies the charges, has requested release from custody because his mother is seriously ill, Norwegian media report.

Mette-Marit, 52, was diagnosed in 2018 with a rare form of pulmonary fibrosis that causes breathing difficulties and creates scar tissue that stiffens the lungs making it difficult to breathe and for oxygen to enter the bloodstream. It has repeatedly forced her to take sick leave or scale back official duties.

In December, Mette-Marit told public broadcaster NRK that her illness had developed "faster than I'd hoped" and that activities she enjoyed with her husband - like hiking and skiing - were no longer possible.

Over the past six months, her condition has deteriorated significantly, Prof Are Holm, a lung specialist at Oslo University Hospital, was quoted by the royal household as saying.

"We can see that there has been a significant increase in scar tissue in her lungs over the past year - and lung function tests show that her lung function has declined considerably in the last three months alone," Holm told reporters at a news conference on Friday.

He said the deterioration was "dangerous", which was why she has been placed on the transplant list.

A successful transplant hinges on several factors, including finding the right match and ensuring the body does not reject the new organ once implanted.

Holm explained that the process was viewed as a last resort, and that individuals must be considered significantly ill and have a limited life expectancy before a lung transplant could be deemed appropriate.

But patients must be still in sufficiently good condition to be able to handle such a major procedure.

Meanwhile, her son Høiby, 29, remains in custody while awaiting a verdict in his trial, which is due to be delivered in the next few weeks.

He has denied the most serious charges against him - four counts of rape as well as serious assault - but pleaded guilty to some lesser offences. As the stepson of the heir to the Norwegian throne, he does not have any royal title or official duties.

The start of his trial came just days after documents were released in the US revealing exchanges Mette-Marit had with the disgraced financier Epstein.

The princess told national TV in March that she wished she had never met Epstein.

She had previously apologised and admitted to "poor judgement", after the extent and frequency of her contact with him emerged when millions of documents relating to the investigation into the late sex offender were released by the US justice department in January.