Author Admits Error in Book's Account of Crown Princess Mette-Marit's Lung Transplant

A book about the Norwegian national football team's World Cup run has published details of Crown Princess Mette-Marit's lung transplant that were not public before. Its author has now admitted getting some of them wrong.

The book is Eventyrnettene. Its author, Alfred Fidjestøl, wrote that the crown princess had received two new lungs from a donor who died suddenly in an accident somewhere in the Nordic region. He also tied the operation to the day Norway played Iraq. The exact timing of the surgery and the details of the donation had not been made public until the book appeared, according to Hello! Magazine.

Are Martin Holm, head of pulmonology at Rikshospitalet, the Oslo hospital, and the crown princess's primary physician, condemned the breach of confidentiality over the transplant details. Holm is the doctor responsible for her care, and his comments make clear that the disclosure was not sanctioned by her medical team.

Fidjestøl told the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet that his wording was poorly phrased. He said he should have written that Mette-Marit had recently undergone surgery, rather than stating that the operation took place on the day Norway played Iraq. He admitted his mistake and said he was not certain of the exact timing of the procedure.

The palace first announced the transplant on 17 June 2026. It said the operation at Rikshospitalet had been successful. Mette-Marit, 53, had been placed on the waiting list on 5 June after what the palace called a significant deterioration in her health. She had been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a condition in which scarring builds up in the lungs and makes breathing harder, in 2018.

The Royal House announced on 14 July 2026 that she had been discharged from Rikshospitalet following the transplant. Its website also keeps a page called Kronprinsessens transplantasjon, which gathers the information published about the operation, in one place.