Norwegian Princess Ingrid Alexandra is transferring from the University of Sydney to the University of Oslo from the autumn semester of 2026 - and with an application that arrived after the deadline had passed. The deadline for exchange-student applications was 1 May, and the documents from Sydney arrived on 8 May. The princess got the place.

The reason for coming home is deeply human. Her mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, has been placed on the waiting list for a lung transplant, after the pulmonary fibrosis diagnosed in 2018 continued to progress. Her recent public appearances were with oxygen support. „It has to do with the family situation. She wants to be with her mother," Prince Haakon explained briefly.

The university, for its part, claims everything is by the rules. „We are flexible when possible, as in this case when we received the application on 8 May," said director of studies Audun Digerud, adding that the institution regularly accepts late applications from partner universities with different deadlines.

And here opens the question that has split the Norwegian public: would an ordinary student from Sydney, with the same late application and no crown, get the same understanding? The university says yes - that this is standard practice for exchange between partner institutions. The skeptics say standard practice somehow always runs more smoothly when the surname is royal.

What remains is the fact that a 22-year-old girl is coming home because her mother is waiting for new lungs - and that this is a reason even the harshest critic struggles to contest. The dispute over deadlines will die down; the diagnosis, unfortunately, remains.