Tokyo: Princess Mako marries an ordinary citizen and loses her title
Emperor Naruhito's granddaughter will renounce her imperial status and leave for the United States next month. The wedding, originally scheduled for 2018, had been postponed due to a financial issue involving the groom's mother.
Tokyo (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Princess Mako, granddaughter of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, today married her fiancé Kei Komuro after years of controversy and discussions over the financial situation of the groom's mother.
As of tomorrow, the princess will no longer be a princess, as female members of the imperial family are not allowed to maintain royal status if they decide to marry an ordinary citizen. The soon-to-be ex-princess is finalizing preparations to move with her new groom to the United States, where Komuro works in a law firm. Since members of the royal family do not hold passports, the princess has applied for her own in recent days as an ordinary citizen; she is expected to leave for New York within the next month.
Crown Prince Fumihito, Mako's father, has banned the traditional ceremonies usually held for members of the royal household, pandering to the opinion of the majority of the Japanese population.
It was rumored that Komuro's mother had borrowed 4 million yen (30,250 euros) from her ex-boyfriend, which she then never repaid. In April, Komuro had submitted a 28-page report explaining the origin of the money (which was allegedly a donation) and proposing to pay his mother's ex-boyfriend to resolve the matter. The princess also waived the lump sum payment given to royal members when they leave the family.
The princess's relationship, since it was announced in 2017, immediately met with controversy from the Japanese population, to the point that Mako was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Due to the "strong sense of anxiety" the princess did not welcome direct questions from journalists upon leaving the royal residence at 10 this morning. Mako, wearing a light green dress and clutching a bouquet of flowers, bowed several times before her parents, Fumihito and Princess Kiko, and hugged her sister Kako before leaving the residence for good.
The newlyweds saw each other for the first time last week, after separating in 2018, when Komuro had left to go study law at Fordham University in New York. Graduating in May this year, Komuro returned to Japan in September, but was criticized in the media for showing up with a ponytail, which he promptly cut off before meeting the princess' parents last week.
Komuro and Mako had met at International Christian University in Tokyo when they were still students in 2012. They were supposed to get married in November 2018, but the wedding had been postponed due to financial issues involving his mother.
.png)
18/05/2017 13:42
18/01/2022 12:42
20/09/2018 13:40
23/05/2019 13:08
