In practice, the transplant could take place at any time.
"We see that there has been a lot more tissue in the lungs over the past year, and on lung function tests we see that it has worsened significantly over the past three months. This is dangerous," says Are Holm.
According to Holm, the rule of thumb for being placed on the transplant waiting list is that a patient has had lung disease for so long that doctors have reason to believe the patient has about a year left to live. At the same time, the patient must be healthy enough to survive the procedure.
Has been prepared
Heart and lung surgeon Arnt Fiane said at the press conference that one in eight patients who receive a transplant does not survive the first year.
"If we wait a few more years, another person will die, and after ten years about half will still be alive," says Arnt Fiane.
Mette-Marit has been prepared to receive new lungs since last winter. When asked if she will be prioritized because she is Crown Princess, the doctors' answer is:
"We always prioritize those who are sickest, those who don't have time to wait."
The next update on the Crown Princess's health will only come after a lung transplant, and an operation will not be announced in advance, the court says in a separate press release.
Wants to be released
Mette-Marit's son from a previous relationship, the so-called "bonus prince" Marius Borg Høiby, is in custody on suspicion of, among other things, multiple counts of rape. He has requested to be released pending sentencing.
"We have taken a position on this and decided not to release him," wrote prosecutor Oda Karterud in an email to Dagbladet.
Princess Ingrid Alexandra has chosen to return to Norway from her place of study in Sydney, Australia, and will study in Oslo this fall. Her brother, Prince Sverre Magnus, will study in Europe this fall, but is ready to return home if necessary.
Due to the Crown Princess's health, she will not be working while she awaits surgery. The couple's silver wedding anniversary in August is being postponed for the same reason.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a comment that his thoughts "in this difficult time" are with Mette-Marit, the royal family and the entire Norwegian people.
"We hope the surgery goes well when the time comes," he said.
Mette-Marit was born in Kristiansand on Sørlandet in southern Norway on August 19, 1973. When she was eleven years old, her parents divorced.
When Mette-Marit met Crown Prince Haakon in the late 1990s, she was single with her two-year-old son Marius Borg Høiby and working as a waitress.
The couple became engaged in 2000 and married on August 25, 2001. Together they have two children: Princess Ingrid Alexandra, born in 2004, and Prince Sverre Magnus, born in 2005.
In October 2018, the Norwegian royal family announced that Mette-Marit had been diagnosed with chronic pulmonary fibrosis.
