Inside Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s real ‘annus horribilis’

“I think it is difficult to get around the fact that this has been an extremely challenging year for Mette-Marit, both personally and in her role as Crown Princess. She has faced several serious and difficult issues at the same time, and that has naturally affected how the public has viewed her and the royal family,” Se og Hør‘s royal reporter Caroline Vagle tells HELLO!. 

Still, Caroline doesn’t think “one operation or one difficult period necessarily erases the other issues.”

Mette-Marit underwent a successful lung transplant at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet this past June. Diagnosed with chronic pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, her condition progressed last year and she was pictured using an oxygen tube on more than one occasion before her transplant.

Following her surgery, Are Holm, Head of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, said: “The Crown Princess’s condition is as good as can be expected under the circumstances.”

Mette-Marit’s procedure took place just two days after her firstborn Marius was found guilty of ⁠two counts of rape, one count of domestic violence and other ⁠crimes, and sentenced to four years in prison. 

Now entering a new year, Mette-Marit is still recovering from her transplant. It was announced after her surgery that she would undergo physical rehabilitation over the next six months and is not expected to carry out official engagements during that period.

For the Crown Princess, the remainder of 2026 will be about getting back to a level and pace that is right for her, in Caroline’s view. “The procedure she has undergone is very serious, and it takes a long time to recover from something like this. The danger is not over,” Caroline says. “And the most important thing for her and those around her right now is her health. Everything else can come later. I also think the Norwegian public understands that.”

Although King Harald V‘s daughter-in-law has come under scrutiny due to her past friendship with Epstein, Caroline thinks sympathy for the Crown Princess has likely grown amid her health struggles. “Her illness and the serious situation she has faced health-wise have made many people look at her differently,” Caroline observes. “When you see someone going through something this serious, I think it creates sympathy and empathy – even among those who have been critical of her.”

© Per Ole Hagen/Getty Images

With the criticism she’s faced over the past year, Mette-Marit’s approval ratings have been at “historic lows,” Caroline notes. Nonetheless, “she has been Crown Princess for more than 25 years, and many people have followed her through both the highs and the very difficult periods,” she says. “That sympathy has probably grown stronger now that she has been so seriously ill. We can all agree that when it comes to life and death, nothing else matters.”

It was the “care and consideration” she received from people across Norway during her illness that Mette-Marit said had given her “strength when I needed it the most.”

But the sympathy she’s gained doesn’t necessarily mean the criticism she’s faced will fade. “Time will tell whether the criticism returns in full force when she eventually returns to public life. I don’t think it will, but I also don’t think the criticism will disappear completely,” Caroline points out. “There are still too many unanswered questions.”

What happens next though, Caroline believes, could shape how the public sees the Crown Princess, who is expected to one day become Norway’s Queen Consort.

“Reputation is built over time, and what happens going forward will also be important. Mette-Marit still has an opportunity to show people who she is and what kind of role she wants to have,” Caroline says. “And I think it would be wise for her to open up a little more when she is feeling stronger and healthier.”