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The Norwegian royal family marked a significant milestone on Tuesday with the release of several special photographs, celebrating the silver wedding anniversary of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit. Similar to Mette-Marit’s birthday last week, the joyous occasion comes at a difficult time for the family.
The Royal House of Norway published to social media an anniversary portrait depicting Haakon and Mette-Marit standing together in a garden at their home at Skaugum estate, with their arms around each other. Reflecting the greenery and flowers surrounding them, the Crown Princess is seen wearing a pastel sweater and a white skirt with blue flowers; Haakon, meanwhile, was in a relaxed blue shirt and dark trousers. “Today marks 25 years since Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit said yes to each other in Oslo Cathedral, August 25, 2001,” the caption read, translated from Norwegian to English. “25 years of love, family, and a life together.”
In a separate post, the couple released never-before-seen photographs from their 2001 honeymoon, which were taken on New York’s Long Island. The images show Mette-Marit in a pink bikini on the beach, the couple showing off their new gold wedding bands against the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean, and one particularly striking image of what appears to be a young Marius Borg Høiby on Haakon’s shoulders. (Høiby is Mette-Marit’s son from a previous relationship before she was a royal.) The caption on the post read simply: “Thankful, 25 years.”
Haakon and Mette-Marit are believed to have first met in the summer of 1998 and were publicly dating by July 1999, when they were photographed together at the Quart Festival in Kristiansand. Their engagement was announced in December 2000. Their relationship was not without controversy: Mette-Marit was a single mother with a son born outside of marriage, and her past had attracted scrutiny from the Church of Norway and the public alike. But King Harald gave his approval to the marriage, and they have since had two children together: Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus.
The anniversary celebration has been muted by circumstances. The couple reportedly postponed a planned gala. Mette-Marit, 53, is still recovering from a lung transplant she received in June, following a worsening of her chronic pulmonary fibrosis, a condition that makes breathing progressively more difficult. Høiby, now 29, has been under house arrest since July and is required to wear an ankle bracelet. He was found guilty on two counts of rape and other offenses in June and acquitted on two other rape charges.
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The couple leaving the Rikshospitalet hospital (the National Hospital), where King Harald V of Norway is hospitalized, on August 25, 2026.
King Harald, 89, remains hospitalized at Oslo’s National Hospital, where he was admitted last week following complications from treatment for hemolytic anemia, a blood disease. Over the weekend, the palace confirmed his condition had deteriorated and that he was being treated for a bacterial blood infection. As of Monday, a palace statement said there were “no significant changes in the King’s health, and the situation remains stable.”
Mette-Marit and Haakon were pictured arriving visiting the hospital today; Crown Prince Haakon is currently serving as regent while his father remains on sick leave.
Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at @rk.passport.