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Mako and Kei Komuro in 2017: At that time the two got engaged - now the wedding followed
Photo: - / dpa
After years of waiting, the Japanese princess Mako married her college love Kei Komuro.
The Japanese courtyard office submitted the necessary documents for the couple to officially register the marriage with the authorities on Tuesday, as reported by Japanese media.
Because Komuro is a commoner, Mako loses her title of nobility and has to leave the court.
The marriage of the two 30-year-olds took place without the traditional wedding ceremonies customary at the imperial court. The reason for this is a controversy over money disputes in the Komuros family: His mother is said to have borrowed money from a former fiancé for her son's studies in the USA and not paid it back. Many Japanese were outraged by the thought that the mother's debts could be settled with Mako's tax-financed dowry worth the equivalent of a million euros. Mako now does without them.
Mako and Komuro have been engaged since 2017, actually they wanted to get married in 2018.
However, due to reports of financial problems in Komuro's family, the wedding was postponed.
In Japan, the imperial family is subject to strict etiquette and the allegations caused a scandal.
Komuro went back to the US in 2018 and didn't return to Japan until early October.
So the couple had not been able to see each other for three years before the wedding.
Now the newlyweds want to leave Japan together and live in the USA from now on.
Komuro studied law there and now works for a US law firm.
She compared him to the "sun", he compared her to the "moon"
Mako is the daughter of Crown Prince Akishino and niece of Emperor Naruhito.
The persistent negative press about her fiancé led to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in her, as the court office announced shortly before the marriage.
Mako and Komuro met through a friend at the International Christian University (ICU), who both attended.
Mako was the first member of the imperial family to study there.
Mako said at the time of their engagement in 2017 that she was attracted to his "smile that shines like the sun" right at the beginning of their relationship.
And Komuro also chose flowery words for the princess at the time: she accompanied him carefully and "calmly as the moon".
aar / dpa / AFP
