It has been announced in Japan that Princess Mako will marry her schoolmate, a commoner, next Tuesday in a simple ceremony, following a three-year engagement that included a financial scandal and media speculation. After her marriage, Princess Mako will become a regular citizen according to laws that require female members of the imperial family to relinquish their royal titles when marrying commoners.
Mako is engaged to her classmate Kei Komuro, 30 years old, a law school graduate living in New York. The 29-year-old Mako, the niece of the Japanese Emperor, has suffered from post-traumatic stress due to the obstacles faced during her engagement, as reported by Reuters.
The wedding will mainly consist of completing the necessary official documents for the marriage followed by a press conference. Although there have been previous instances of marriages outside the imperial family, it is unusual for there to be no displays of the grandeur typically associated with royal weddings.
Princess Mako will forfeit $1.3 million that she was entitled to receive for renouncing her royal title and leaving the family. Initially, the Japanese public welcomed the engagement, but controversy arose when tabloid newspapers reported a financial scandal involving Komuro's mother, prompting media scrutiny.
The princess announced her engagement in 2017, but months later, tabloids reported a financial dispute between Komuro’s mother and her former fiancé, who claimed that she and her son had not repaid a debt of approximately $35,000, according to Reuters. Komuro stated that his mother's former fiancé gave her the money as a gift, not a loan, but he also issued a 24-page explanation this year, indicating he would settle the matter financially.
After the wedding, Mako, who has never held a passport before, will move to New York to live with her husband.
