Japan princess chooses commoner as husband
Nuptials long delayed due to controversy over groom’s mum
Japanese Princess Mako and her fiance are tying the knot next month but no wedding ceremonies are planned.
Their marriage is not fully supported by the public because of a financial dispute involving her future motherin-law, the palace announced yesterday.
The controversy involving Mako’s fiance Kei Komuro’s mother is an embarrassment for the imperial family and led to public rebuke that delayed their marriage for more than three years.
Komuro, 29, returned to Japan last week from New York, where he was studying to become a lawyer. His hair, tied in a ponytail, was considered a bold statement for someone marrying a princess in the tradition-bound family and only added to the criticism.
The couple will register their marriage on Oct. 26 and will have a news conference together, the Imperial Household Agency said. They are expected to start a new life together in New York later this year.
No banquet
There will be no wedding banquet and other rituals for the couple “because their marriage is not celebrated by many people”, the agency said.
Mako has also declined the 150 million yen ($1.35 million) she is entitled for leaving the imperial family, palace officials said. Mako would be the first female imperial family member since the Second World War to not receive the payment when marrying a commoner.