This is a very unfortunate mistake, and we truly regret the incident. We have apologized directly to the royal court, and we apologize to our viewers, says news editor Tora Bakke Håndlykken.
According to the newspaper, the whole thing was due to an internal mistake. The message appeared in a ticker tape during a TV broadcast about another news item and was visible for a few seconds. It happened at 1 pm on Tuesday.
Håndlykken says that VG is now reviewing its routines to ensure that something similar does not happen again.
This is not the first time that Norwegian media has incorrectly reported the death of a royal. In 2017, NTB reported that King Harald had died.
Sonja was flown to Rikshospitalet in Oslo after experiencing breathing difficulties at the royal family's mountain cabin on Monday evening. She was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday.
