Less than two months ago, Mette-Marit underwent a month of pulmonary rehabilitation, but her chronic illness has worsened.
Over the past six months, the 52-year-old Crown Princess has spent a lot of time in hospitals in and around Oslo, where she has undergone tests.
"And so we have had a number of discussions about lung transplantation. That's what's new, that we're starting to approach that stage," she tells NRK in an interview where she sits side by side with her husband Crown Prince Haakon.
The King: It's heavy.
Are Martin Holm, a doctor at the National Hospital in Oslo, said at a press conference that it is a major procedure that involves risks.
We transplant to save lives, he says.
King Harald tells NRK on Friday evening that the Crown Princess is doing what she can to fulfill her official duties.
She is absolutely doing what she can and unfortunately it is less than she can handle. The disease is progressing steadily. It is difficult, says the king.
To be eligible for a transplant, the patient must be quite ill, but also healthy enough to cope with subsequent treatment, says Holm. He points out that there is a waiting list for lung transplants, but that the person who receives new lungs is the one on the list with the most urgent need.
The Crown Princess says that it has been a long process to get there in her mind.
I have always hoped that we would be able to keep the disease in check with medication, and progress has actually been quite slow up until now. But now progress has been faster than both I and the doctors had expected.
Seven years ago, the Crown Prince and Princess announced that Mette-Marit had been suffering from the rare and chronic disease pulmonary fibrosis. This causes scar tissue to form in the lungs, causing coughing, fatigue, shortness of breath and recurring infections. The longer the disease lasts, the more difficult it becomes to breathe.
Dark outlook
Lung transplantation is usually a last resort for patients where no other treatments help and where the patient is not expected to live much longer.
The transplants are performed in day surgeries and most often both lungs are replaced with two that have been donated from a recently deceased person.
Mette-Marit, born with the surname Tjessen Høiby, married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001. The fact that she was a single mother and had previously lived a party life caused a great stir and debate about the customs of the monarchy in Norway.
Her eldest son Marius Borg Høiby has been in a tough spot in recent years and will stand trial next year for a series of crimes.
Mette-Marit and Crown Prince Haakon have two children together: Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus.
