Princess Ingrid Alexandra makes first public appearance since leaving Australia

Princess Ingrid Alexandra has made a return to official duties in Norway, one week after leaving Australia to be with her seriously ill mother.

The 22-year-old royal was joined by her younger brother Prince Sverre Magnus, 20, to cheer on the Norwegian women’s football team in its World Cup qualifying match against Austria in Oslo.

It was the first of many more public engagements expected to be carried out by the young princess and prince as they take on a bigger workload to help the rest of the royal family, who are facing challenges on multiple fronts.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who is second-in-line to the throne after her father Crown Prince Haakon, arrived back in Norway on Wednesday. She left Australia abruptly to rejoin her family in Oslo following a recent decline in Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s health.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra has been accepted at the University of Oslo, where she will continue her degree on exchange from Sydney University. Although the princess had missed the application deadline by one week, the university’s Director of Studies Audun Digerud said some allowances were made for late submissions.

“We are flexible where it is practically possible, such as in this case,” Digerud said.

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The deadline was on May 1 but the royal sent hers on May 8, days before carrying out her first public event in Sydney on May 17. She left Australia on June 8.

Digerud added it was “nice to say yes to [having] an extra exchange student with us”, pointing out most students in Oslo choose to study at Sydney University and not the other way around.

The princess had been due to sit her exams this week. Princess Ingrid Alexandra arrived in Australia in late July to begin the degree in social science, specialising in international relations and politics.

She had been living on campus inside the prestigious St Andrew’s College, in a private room with a shared bathroom, where the annual fee is around $44,000 per year.

But she will now be in Oslo indefinitely as her mother prepares to have the life-saving surgery.

On Friday, the Royal House confirmed the 52-year-old had been placed on the transplant list for a new pair of lungs. Mette-Marit has been fighting pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung condition, since 2018 but the disease deteriorated significantly last year.

In recent months, the crown princess’ breathing has become even worse, with one doctor likening it to breathing through a straw. She has started wearing a nasal tube connected to an oxygen tank to help her breathe.

She will receive a donor set of lungs when the first suitable pair becomes available and will not be prioritised due to her position as a member of the monarchy.

The crown prince will reduce his own workload while Crown Princess Mette-Marit has the surgery. She faces a long recovery and will be absent from official duties indefinitely, the Royal House said.

Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus have only recently began representing the royal family at official events. In June last year they carried out their first joint engagement, without their parents, at a Red Cross event.

Meanwhile, Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s eldest son from a previous relationship made an emotional plea to be released from prison on compassionate grounds.

Marius Borg Høiby has been in custody since February where he is awaiting the verdict following a seven-week criminal trial, due on June 15.

“Every Sunday when we meet in prison, I know that it could be the last time I see her,” Høiby said during an appearance in Oslo’s District Court on Monday afternoon where he tearfully pleaded with a judge to be released.

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“You never know when a lung will come and there is a great risk associated with such an operation.

“I’m having an extremely tough time. Sitting inside while I know my mum is so sick is unbearable.”

His application was granted, but prosecutors immediately appealed the decision, preventing Høiby from being reunited with Crown Princess Mette-Marit and the rest of his family. A decision is due in the coming days.

Høiby denies the most serious charges, which include four counts of rape and assault.

The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to some of the lesser offences, which include a drugs charge, traffic offences and breaching a restraining order.