December 12, 2013 - 13:36 GMT hellomagazine.com Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, who is recovering from neck surgery, looked dressed down in a navy jumper and trainers and she and husband Prince Haakon attended the NORAD conference in Oslo Princess Mette-Marit of Norway looked in good spirits on Wednesday as she made a public appearance despite recovering from recent neck surgery. Visible above Mette-Marit's navy blue jumper was the scar from her operation. "I feel better and I'm very grateful for that," said the 40-year-old princess said as she arrived for the NORAD conference, before apologising to the audience that she couldn't move her head easily. "I do not feel very mobile." Understandably the Norwegian royal chose to dress sensibly for the occasion and sported black trousers and trainers."I had been so looking forward to this event," said the mother-of-three, who insisted on showing her support for the Norwegian Agency for Cooperation and Development, despite needing to recover. By Mette-Marit's side throughout the conference was her husband Prince Haakon, who represented Norway's royal family at former South African President Nelson Mandela's funeral this week. The couple, who have been married for 12 years, put on another united front after rumours of an impending separation began to swirl two weeks ago. Haakon, 40, appeared happy to be working with his wife once again since the pair were photographed during a meeting at Kronprinsparets Fund headquarters."What I can say for sure is that she will be recovering until December 14 and will hopefully be back to work in January," said Prince Haakon via his representatives. "Anything else would be a happy surprise."