From fairy tale to ponytail, controversy over Japan’s royal wedding continues
- Princess and her ‘commoner’ fiancé meet again in person after three years apart, days before their marriage
- Many Japanese are still uneasy over the relationship, with some calling it ‘cursed’ and protesting on the streets
A week before their wedding, Japan’s Princess Mako and her university sweetheart Kei Komuro have finally reunited three years after they last saw each other in person.
He is thought to have explained to the princess’ parents, Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko, the situation regarding an unresolved financial dispute involving his mother.
That controversy led to a delay in his marriage to Princess Mako, which was first announced in September 2017 and set for the following year.
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Japan’s Princess Mako to finally marry commoner boyfriend Kei Komuro
But after the tabloids went into overdrive reporting on how Komuro’s mother owed a former boyfriend 4 million yen (US$36,000) that she allegedly borrowed to cover his university fees, the Imperial Household Agency hastily announced the wedding was being put off indefinitely. Its plan to avoid any hint of a scandal only served to provoke the local down-market media to new heights of thinly sourced reports and innuendo.