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Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon will limit royal duties to spend more time with his seriously ill wife Mette-Marit, who needs a lung transplant, the palace said on Tuesday.
The future king cancelled official engagements scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, media noted, and last week he pulled out of the government’s weekly cabinet meeting on Friday.
“Due to the crown princess’s health, the crown prince will adjust his schedule in the future so that he can spend more time with his wife,” the palace told the AFP news agency in an email.
Mette-Marit, 52, was diagnosed in 2018 with a rare form of pulmonary fibrosis, or scarring of the lungs, that causes breathing difficulties.
Doctors said that was a last resort when a patient is believed to have less than two years to live.
While awaiting the operation, the Crown Princess will not be able to carry out her official duties, the palace said.
The palace’s statement came a day after an Oslo court sentenced the crown princess’s 29-year-old son from a previous relationship, Marius Borg Høiby, to four years in prison for two counts of rape and 32 other offences.
Høiby, who is not formally part of the royal household and has no steady job, was acquitted of two other counts of rape, and convicted of repeated domestic abuse against an ex-girlfriend, traffic violations, issuing threats and other offences.
He denied the most serious charges and his lawyers have said they will appeal.
Additional sources • AFP
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