Norway's crown princess needs lung transplant, palace says

OSLO, ‌Dec 19 (Reuters) - Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit ‍is ‌expected to undergo a lung transplant following a ⁠deterioration of ‌her health in recent months, the royal household said on Friday.

The 52-year-old wife of Crown ⁠Prince Haakon, the heir to the Norwegian throne, was ​diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in ‌2018, a chronic ⁠disease that causes scarring in the lungs and leads to a reduced oxygen ​uptake.

"This autumn, several tests have been performed that show a clear negative development in the crown princess's health," the palace ​said ‍in a statement.

It ​has not yet been decided when Mette-Marit will be placed on the transplant waiting list, it added.

"We are approaching the time when a lung transplant must ⁠be performed, and we are making the necessary preparations so ​that it will be possible when that time comes," Professor Are Martin Holm of the Oslo University Hospital's ‌pulmonary unit said in the same statement.

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Kate Mayberry)