Japanese princess to wed outside royal family this year

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – A niece of Japan’s emperor will go ahead with her decision to marry her boyfriend and give up her royal status, local media reported on Wednesday.

Princess Mako will wed Kei Komuro by end of the year and the marriage will be held without the related ritual ceremonies, according to Kyodo News.

This would make Mako, the niece of Emperor Naruhito and the eldest daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito, the first female member of the royal family to skip the traditional wedding ceremonies after World War II.

The couple, who are both 29 years old and first met at university in Tokyo in 2012, may start their new life together in the US.

Under current rules, female members of Japan’s imperial family lose their status if they marry someone who is not from a royal family.

Those who do so get a lump sum payment of about $1.35 million but Mako may refuse to take the money, the report added.

This is likely because of a monetary dispute between Komuro’s mother and her former fiancé, which was also the reason why Mako’s wedding was postponed for over two years, according to Kyodo News.

Mako’s 14-year-old brother Prince Hisahito is second in the line of succession and the only heir of his generation under Japanese imperial law, which states that “only males with male lineal descent from emperors” can take the throne.​​​​​​​