Japan’s imperial family confirmed on Friday that the emperor’s niece will marry her fiancé, a commoner, this month and relinquish her royal title.
The Imperial Household Agency stated that Princess Mako will marry Kei Komuro, who is now a lawyer in U.S., on October 26.
According to the Agency, Mako has been “diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder caused by what is claimed to be mental abuse,”
Mako is the eldest daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito, Emperor Naruhito’s younger brother.
The pair, both 29, met for the first time in 2012 at Tokyo’s International Christian University. The couple got unofficially engaged in 2017, however the wedding was postponed owing to a financial dispute involving Komuro’s mother.
The wedding is likely to take place without the traditional rituals, making Mako the first female member of the royal family to do so since WWII.
Mako will lose her royal position when she marries Komuro, an outsider, but she will get a lump sum payment of approximately $1.3 million from the imperial family.
The princess, however, has stated that she will not accept the money, making her the first Japanese royal to reject such an offer.
The pair will marry in Tokyo before relocating to the United States, where Komuro works for a legal company.
As members of Japan’s royal family do not have passports, Mako will have to register as a member of the Komuro family in order to seek for a passport after the wedding.
