Princess Mako of Japan is set to marry her commoner fiancee later this month.
Princess Mako of Japan and her commoner fiance Kei Komuro announced Friday that they will marry on October 26, according to public broadcaster NHK, in a contentious union that will require her to relinquish her royal status.
The engagement of the 29-year-old granddaughter of former Emperor Akihito and Komuro was first announced in 2017. However, the wedding date was pushed back due to a financial dispute between Komuro’s mother and her former fiance.
In 2012, Princess Mako and Komuro met at the International Christian University in Tokyo.
Komuro was better known as the “Prince of the Sea” before being introduced as the royal fiance, after appearing in a beach tourism campaign for the city of Fujisawa, south of the capital.
After the wedding, the couple plans to relocate to New York, where Komuro works as a lawyer. The Princess is reportedly foregoing a lump-sum payment of more than $1 million, which she was expected to receive to begin her new life as a non-royal.
According to Japanese imperial law, only male heirs are permitted to inherit the throne.
If the family’s other unmarried princesses married commoners, they would lose their royal status as well. This may leave the imperial family with insufficient members to carry out its public duties.
