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Queen Sonja of Norway has been hospitalized, days after the royal household disclosed she had been diagnosed with heart failure and atrial fibrillation. In a statement released on Wednesday, the Royal House of Norway said the 88-year-old queen consort was admitted to the National Hospital in Oslo. “The Queen has heart fibrillation and heart failure, and has been hospitalized for a few days for examinations and observation,” the statement read, translated from Norwegian to English.
On Sunday, the Norwegian royal household said that following examinations at the National Hospital over the weekend, Queen Sonja would not be admitted, but that she would be on “sick leave for a week” and “needs rest and adjustment of her medication.” The statement also noted that because Queen Sonja would be on sick leave, she would not participate in a planned local tour, which would instead be carried out solo by her husband, King Harald. Sonja also canceled her official engagements the day after the initial diagnosis was disclosed on Sunday, including a scheduled lunch with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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Queen Sonja in April at the 80th birthday celebrations for Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf.
Queen Sonja’s cardiac history stretches back more than a year. In January 2025, she had a pacemaker installed after experiencing atrial fibrillation during a ski vacation, an episode serious enough to require an airlift to a hospital in Lillehammer. Three months later, she was airlifted again from the royal family’s private mountain chalet in Jotunheimen, a mountain range in southern Norway, after experiencing shortness of breath over the Easter holiday.
Her husband, King Harald, 89, has faced his own series of health challenges in recent years, including a severe infection and pacemaker surgery in 2024. In February 2026, he was hospitalized for infection and dehydration while the royal family was vacationing in Tenerife.
The Norwegian royal family is managing multiple health situations simultaneously. Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 52, who was diagnosed with chronic pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, has seen her condition deteriorate in recent months. Late last year, the Royal Palace said doctors had begun preparing for a potential lung transplant evaluation.
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Prince Sverre Magnus, Crown Prince Haakon, Princess Mette-Marit, Queen Sonja, and King Harald at the Royal Palace on May 17.
Her husband, Crown Prince Haakon, told reporters earlier this week that he was worried about her health and that she had gotten worse lately. In September, the Crown Princess had already announced she would take a step back from her duties to “undergo a month of pulmonary rehabilitation.” She was most recently seen in early May for Norway’s national day celebrations, wearing a nasal oxygen device to assist her breathing.
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.