In recent days, a video of the former princess of Japan,
Mako
, supposedly saying goodbye to her family after marrying a commoner, went viral on X.
And we ask ourselves: Why was it a key moment in the recent history of the Imperial House?
In 2021, Akishino's Mako married her commoner boyfriend, lawyer
Kei Komuro
, and resigned from the imperial house.
The news was a media
boom
that dominated the newspapers and portals of both Easterners and Westerners for years.
Mako is the niece of the current Emperor of Japan,
Naruhito
, and also the sister of Prince Hisahito, second in the order of succession.
Kei is only known for being married to the former princess.
He was an unknown until he met Mako in college.
They fell in love in 2012, in the classrooms of Tokyo Christian University, where Mako was studying Art and Heritage (she later specialized in Art History at the University of Edinburgh and did a master's degree in museum and art gallery studies in Leicester). .
Persecuted by the press
They were dating until 2018, the year they announced their engagement at a press conference.
Since then, their lives became difficult due to the incessant siege of the press and public opinion, which was not in favor of the couple.
Many people considered Komuro a "lifer."
They did not look favorably on a descendant of the emperor being in a relationship with a commoner who was the son of a single father.
Video
By marrying a commoner, Mako renounced the royalty of her country and went to live in the United States.
From the media's insistence on revealing the couple's privacy, a story arose that complicated their marriage: a Japanese media outlet revealed that Komuro's mother supposedly owed her ex-fiancé $36,000.
The scandal would have delayed the wedding for three years
(they denied it).
In dialogue with the press, Komuro explained that his mother had believed that the money had been a gift and she said that he would take care of the debt.
Because of everything she was experiencing, the princess's psychiatrist confirmed that
Mako suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder
.
The princess "feels pessimistic and finds it difficult to feel happy because of the persistent fear that her life will be destroyed," the Imperial Household Agency media specialist told the media.
Princess Mako became engaged to Kei in 2018. Photo: REUTERS
Resignation from the imperial house
The couple married on October 26, 2021
.
At 10 in the morning, Mako and Kei went to a neighborhood agency, signed the papers and the princess was officially separated from the imperial family.
By the Law of the Japanese Imperial House, Mako gave up an important collection of jewelry, the million dollars that belonged to him for belonging to the Empire and the palace.
It is worth clarifying that because she was the emperor's niece and due to the law of male succession, Mako was not in line to the throne.
Additionally, according to law,
if royal women marry a commoner they must renounce their titles and leave the palace
.
Kei Komuro being interviewed in Tokyo, in 2017. Photo: AP
Consulted by Clarín, the Japanese embassy in Argentina stated that because "Ms. Mako Komuro is already a Japanese citizen like any other after leaving the imperial family, as the Government of Japan we are not in a position to give any comment on her decision." and current marital status.
What is your life like today?
Currently, the former princess is 32 years old and lives like one more in Hell's Kitchen, in New York.
She lives with her husband in a house for which they pay 4,000 euros a month
.
Kei and Mako go shopping like anyone without the need for private security (however, six bodyguards moved to the United States when they did).
After graduating as a lawyer from Fordham University in New York, he began working at the New Jersey law firm,
Lowenstein Sandler
.
Mako and Kei met at university.
Photo: REUTERS
She earned a master's degree in museum and art gallery studies and is still seeking to finish her doctorate.
In New York she worked at the famous Metropolitan Museum as a volunteer preparing an exhibition of paintings inspired by the life of a 13th century monk who traveled throughout Japan to introduce Buddhism.
People take part in a march to protest against the marriage between Japanese Princess Mako and Kei Komuro in Tokyo on October 26, 2021. Photo: AFP
Although tranquility has come to their lives, they still, from time to time, discover a paparazzi interested in knowing what their daily life is like...