Overview
- Multiple outlets on Wednesday, citing the Norwegian magazine Se og Hør and palace insiders, reported that King Harald and Queen Sonja have pulled back from Mette-Marit and described an “icy atmosphere.”
- Mette-Marit’s absence from a palace birthday dinner for Princess Astrid in mid-February, where King Harald and Crown Prince Haakon appeared, is being cited as a visible sign of the rift.
- Coverage links the tension to fallout from her past meetings with Jeffrey Epstein and to the ongoing court case involving her son, Marius Borg Høiby.
- The palace previously said in late 2025 that she is preparing for a lung transplant, recent photos show her using an oxygen device in public, and she told NRK in late March that her condition has worsened.
- Norway’s prime minister urged people to take her illness very seriously, according to the Daily Mail’s account of his remarks.