Princess Mako to marry commoner
TOKYO: Princess Mako and her fiancé, a commoner, announced their engagement on Sunday, a match which will cost the princess her royal status, according to a law that highlights the male-dominated nature of Japan’s monarchy.
Like all female imperial family members, Mako, 25, who is Emperor Akihito’s eldest granddaughter, forfeits her status upon marriage to a commoner under a controversial tradition. The law does not apply to royal males.
But at a televised press conference held to announce her engagement, she told the nation that she felt “really happy”.
“I was aware since my childhood that I’ll leave a royal status once I marry,” she said. “While I worked to help the emperor and fulfil duties as a royal family member as much as I can, I’ve been cherishing my own life.”
AFP
Her fiancé, Kei Komuro, 25, who works at a law firm and once won a tourism promotion contest to be crowned “Prince of the Sea”, said he proposed to her more than three years ago.
He described Mako as someone who quietly watched over him “like the moon”.
The princess said his smile was “like the sun”.
The announcement had been planned for July, but the couple postponed it out of consideration for a southern region hit by heavy rains and floods.
An official of the Imperial Household Agency said their wedding would take place after the summer
next year. AFP