Crown Princess Mette-Marit surprises in newly released family birthday portrait after difficult year

Crown Princess Mette Marit has celebrated her 53rd birthday with a newly released family portrait. 

The Norwegian royal was pictured alongside her husband, Crown Prince Haakon, and children, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 22, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 20.

Mette-Marit, who has been in recovery since her lung transplant in June, wore an elegant golden silk skirt and a navy blazer. 

The picture was shared by the Norwegian Royal House on Instagram on Wednesday with the caption: "Congratulations to Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who turns 53 today!"

© The Royal Court of Norway

The photograph of the family was taken earlier this year. 

Crown Princess Mette-Marit visits King Harald in hospital

Earlier this week, the Crown Princess made a rare public outing to visit her father-in-law King Harald, who has been in hospital with a rare condition called hemolytic anaemia, which causes the number of red blood cells in the body to be reduced. 

The Norwegian monarch, 89, was admitted to Oslo National Hospital on Monday and has been placed on sick leave for two weeks, while Prince Haakon will serve as regent. 

© NTB/AFP via Getty Images

In a statement, the Norwegian Palace confirmed that Europe's oldest monarch had "been treated with cortisone for the blood disease hemolytic anemia in recent weeks. This has led to fluid accumulation in the body that requires treatment in hospital".

Mette-Marit was pictured wearing sunglasses with Haakon in the driver's seat as they arrived at the hospital on Tuesday. It's one of the only occasions she's been seen in public since her lung transplant.  

Princess Astrid, Harald's older sister, and Maud Angelica Behn, the daughter of Princess Martha Louise, were also spotted visiting the hospital. 

Inside Mette-Marit's most difficult year

Mette-Marit has been married to Crown Prince Haakon since 2001. Together they have two children, Ingrid Alexandra and Sverre Magnus, while Marius Borg Høiby, the princess's son from a previous relationship, is also part of the family.

© Lise Åserud / NTB / AFP via Getty Images

Since joining the Royal House, the princess has maintained a close relationship with her in-laws, King Harald and Queen Sonja.

This year, she has faced Norway's equivalent of an "annus horribilis" due to an ongoing health battle due to the worsening of her pulmonary fibrosis, alongside the trial of her son Marius, and the publication of her past correspondence with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

She was pictured with an oxygen tube before her lung transplant. Following her surgery, Are Holm, Head of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, said: "The Crown Princess's condition is as good as can be expected under the circumstances."