Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit Mark 25 Years of Marriage Privately as King Harald Remains Hospitalised
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway celebrated their silver wedding anniversary in August 2026, commemorating 25 years of marriage privately with their family. The Royal Court of Norway confirmed the couple would mark the milestone quietly, and released a new photograph of the two standing together in a garden to mark the occasion. A second social media post shared personal photographs from the couple's 2001 honeymoon on Long Island, captioned with a single word: "grateful." (Hello!)
The anniversary follows an especially difficult year for the Crown Princess. In June 2026, Mette-Marit received a lung transplant at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet after her pulmonary fibrosis — a condition in which lung tissue becomes scarred and breathing progressively worsens — deteriorated. She was subsequently discharged from the hospital, according to the Norwegian Royal Court's official website. (Hello!; Kongehuset.no)
Beyond her health, 2026 brought further strain. Mette-Marit's son Marius faced trial, and past correspondence between the Crown Princess and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was made public. (Hello!)
King Harald, Mette-Marit's father-in-law and Norway's reigning monarch, remained hospitalised in Oslo's National Hospital at the time of the anniversary. The 89-year-old king is being treated for haemolytic anaemia, a rare blood condition in which red blood cells are destroyed faster than the body can replace them. The Norwegian Palace stated that the king's health had deteriorated but that his condition was stable during the week of the couple's anniversary. (Hello!)
Haakon, 53, and Mette-Marit, also 53, married on 25 August 2001 at Oslo Cathedral. Their wedding drew international attention partly because Mette-Marit, a commoner and single mother, was entering a royal house with a relatively recent tradition of such marriages. The couple have three children together: Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus, and Haakon's stepson Marius from Mette-Marit's previous relationship.
The decision to mark 25 years quietly, with family rather than with public ceremony, sits against the backdrop of a year in which health and headlines have pressed hard on the household. The new garden portrait and the honeymoon photographs posted with the word "grateful" are the only public markers the couple have offered. The rest, by the Royal Court's own confirmation, was private.
