Japan’s Princess Mako became Ms Mako Komuro when she married her college sweetheart Kei Komuro in a private civil ceremony in Tokyo on the morning of October 26. Wishing Japan’s Princess Mako Every Happiness in Her Married Life…
Japanese Princess gives up her royal status & $1.4 Million to marry her commoner boyfriend. Princess Mako, a niece of the Emperor, turned down a 152.5 million yen ($1.3 million) dowry that’s traditionally awarded to women in the royal family when they marry, making her the first to do so since WWII.
Japanese royal Princess Mako, 30, the niece of reigning emperor Naruhito, tied the knot with her commoner boyfriend Kei Komuro in a ceremony devoid of fanfare and celebrations on October 26, four years after the couple had got engaged.
Princess Mako, the eldest daughter of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, reported her marriage to Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, her uncle and aunt and to Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko, her grandparents. She visited the three sanctuaries at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Tuesday to report her marriage with Kei Komuro to ancestors of the Imperial Family and deities.
Female members of the Imperial Family who leave the family upon marriage usually perform the “Kashikodokoro-Koreiden-Shinden-ni-Essuru-no-Gi” rite to worship and report the marriage at the buildings of the sanctuaries, wearing a traditional costume.
Princess Mako had to take the extreme step since the laws governing the Japanese imperial household lays down that female members who marry commoners have to relinquish their royal status, Princess Mako will have to formally leave the family. That means, per reports, the size of the royal family is now down to 17 members, 12 women and five men. The strength of Japanese royals has dwindled from 67 right after World War II and there are currently only three heirs to the throne — Naruhito’s 85-year-old uncle, Prince Hitachi, his brother and Mako’s dad Crown Prince Akishino, who is aged 55, and his nephew and Mako’s brother, Hisahito, who is in his teens.
