The former Princess Mako Komuro set off on a trip to her new home in the United States on Sunday with her husband, Kei Komuro. The princess left the royal lavishing comfort in exchange for being with her love in a one bedroom apartment in New York.
The couple got married last month, in quiet manner, following many years of tabloid news and online gossip about their marriage which Komuro claimed resulted in her “sadness and pain.”
The possibility of a transfer to the United States had long been speculated. The pair of 30-year-olds hopped on an international flight to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to New York, where Kei went to law school and currently works.
Police and airport security officials heavily guarded the couple; they walked through a group of reporters and cameramen but didn’t respond to any questions.
Mako is the daughter of Emperor Naruhito and was stripped of her title as a princess after she was married to an ordinary person under postwar succession laws, which also restricted female members of a family imperial to inherit the throne.
Following their wedding announcement in the year 2017 after their engagement, the Komuros were met with a torrent of stories saying that Kei’s family was facing financial problems.
The Japanese royals have to adhere to strict standards. The Imperial Household Agency said Mako was diagnosed with a complicated post-traumatic stress disorder due to the attention from the media.
The initial plan was for Kei to go to America ahead of Mako. The former princess should have accompanied him once she received the passport she had, the reports claimed.
However, Kei did stay in Japan longer than planned for the family funeral that Mako’s father had. The Japanese emperor has no authority in the political realm; however, he is a significant symbol.
With the dwindling number of male royals, there’s been some discussion about changing the rules of Japan and polls show that the majority of people support women’s rights to rule. But any changes are most likely to take time because traditionalists are vehemently against them.
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