Norway’s ⁠Crown Princess Mette-Marit has undergone ⁠a successful lung transplant and is recovering ⁠from the procedure, the royal household said in a statement on Wednesday.

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.

“Like ‌all newly transplanted patients, the crown princess will remain at the hospital for several weeks to come,” Oslo University Hospital Professor Are Holm said in a statement provided by the palace.

The surgery comes at a strained time for the royal family: earlier this week, Mette-Marit’s 29-year-old son from a previous relationship, Marius Borg Hoiby, was convicted of rape and domestic violence and sentenced to four years in prison.

Oslo University ⁠Hospital on June 5 said Mette-Marit had been placed on a waiting list for a lung transplant after ‌a significant deterioration in her health that likely gave her only a year to live without the surgery.

The crown prince and crown princess thanked the public for the warm and ‌kind greetings they had received recently, the palace said. The next public update on her ⁠health is only expected when ⁠she is discharged from hospital, it added.