The Norwegian Royal Palace released a new family portrait of Crown Princess Mette-Marit for her 53rd birthday, showing Prince Haakon beside Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus at the palace. The image gives the family a public moment after a year shaped by health treatment, scrutiny over Jeffrey Epstein, and Crown Prince Haakon’s new role as Regent.
The caption on the royal family’s official Instagram read, “Congratulations to Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who turns 53 today!” The Palace said the photograph was taken earlier this year, which places the image in a separate timeline from the birthday post itself and suggests the portrait was held back for the occasion.
Royal Palace Instagram portrait
The release centers on Crown Princess Mette-Marit, but Prince Haakon is the figure whose position has shifted most visibly around the image. He appears in the portrait as husband, while King Harald’s sick leave has also made him Regent for two weeks. In practical terms, that means the Palace is pairing a family milestone with the day-to-day continuity of the monarchy.
The new photograph also adds to a small sequence of public images this year. In July, the Royal Palace shared a photograph of Crown Princess Mette-Marit sitting on a sofa in the Palace, a quieter appearance than a formal celebration but still a public sign that the family was managing visibility carefully.
Mette-Marit’s difficult year
The birthday portrait lands after a difficult year for Crown Princess Mette-Marit. She has been recovering from a lung transplant in June after a worsening of pulmonary fibrosis, and she previously used an oxygen cannula at royal events before the surgery. The family image therefore reads as more than a ceremonial post: it is also a return to the royal feed after a period dominated by treatment and reduced appearances.
The same year brought public attention over her son Marius Borg Høiby and over Jeffrey Epstein. In March, Crown Princess Mette-Marit said on national television, “It is incredibly important for me to take responsibility for not checking his background more carefully,” and “and to take responsibility for being so manipulated and deceived as I was.” In June, Marius Borg Høiby was found guilty of two counts of rape and sentenced to four years in prison, and was further convicted of abusing an ex-girlfriend and causing serious bodily harm to another partner while being cleared of two further charges of rape.
King Harald’s sick leave
King Harald was admitted to the National Hospital in Oslo on Monday because of fluid accumulation, a side effect of treatment for haemolytic anaemia. The Royal Court said, “We will return to the consequences this will have for the Royal House’s official program,” while Crown Prince Haakon takes over Regent duties during the two-week sick leave.
For readers following the royal household, the immediate takeaway is simple: the Palace has put a birthday portrait into circulation, but the broader frame remains one of limited public appearances, a recovering Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and Prince Haakon carrying both family and state duties at once.
