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The future monarch of Norway is pausing her academic pursuits to urgently travel back from Australia, as her mother faces escalating health challenges.
Princess Ingrid Alexandra, aged 22, is leaving the University of Sydney to join her family in Norway, as Crown Princess Mette-Marit experiences a downturn in her chronic lung condition, as reported by Norwegian broadcaster NRK.
“Ingrid Alexandra plans to return home soon. It’s related to the family circumstances. She wants to be with her mother,” Crown Prince Haakon stated during his official visit to Japan, according to the report released Monday.
The princess is currently engaged in a three-year course in international relations and political economy. Although she is anticipated to resume her studies in Australia, Crown Prince Haakon mentioned that the duration of her stay in Norway remains uncertain.
This decision arises as Mette-Marit, at 52 years old, continues her struggle with chronic pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease she has been contending with since her diagnosis in 2018.
Last week, Haakon revealed the seriousness of her condition.
“The Crown Princess is seriously ill, and I think she has gotten a bit worse lately,” he said, according to NRK. “So I am worried about her health.”
“These six months have gone pretty well, I think. But there are different phases. So we just have to try to solve it as best we can,” he added.
The Norwegian royal palace announced in March that Mette-Marit’s health had “deteriorated.” Just days ago, officials also cut short Haakon’s trip to Japan because of her “health situation.”
Mette-Marit has recently been seen at public events wearing a nasal cannula, an oxygen tube that helps with her breathing.
Asked whether she could eventually need a lung transplant, Haakon said, “It’s a medical question. So they’re the ones who decide when it should happen, when it’s right. But I think she’s gotten a lot worse lately, unfortunately.”
Princess Ingrid Alexandra, the eldest child of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, is Norway’s future queen. She is second in line to the throne behind her father and is expected to one day become the country’s monarch.
The health crisis has hit multiple generations of the royal family.
Haakon’s mom, Queen Sonja, 88, was hospitalized with atrial fibrillation and heart failure on May 27.
The palace said she would take a week off royal duties to rest and adjust her medication. She received a pacemaker in January 2025.
King Harald, 89, has also faced a string of health setbacks in recent years, including leg surgery, multiple COVID-19 infections and pacemaker surgery in 2024.
In February, he was hospitalized in Tenerife with an infection and dehydration while on vacation.
The family’s latest troubles come just days after a Sydney court issued a two-year restraining order against a man accused of stalking Princess Ingrid Alexandra.
David James Cook, 63, was banned from contacting the princess or any member of the Norwegian royal family after allegedly sending a letter to her residence at St Andrew’s College, 9News reported.
Security intercepted the correspondence before it reached her.
“I sent her a card just asking for friendship, that’s all,” Cook told reporters outside court. “I did not intentionally upset her in any way and I wouldn’t do so. She’s a nice person. I bumped into her at an event and I followed up with the card.”
Hours later, Cook was charged with allegedly assaulting a photographer.
Police said the photographer suffered minor injuries. Cook was released from custody and is due back in court July 17.