Mako, 30, gave up her titles so that she could marry Kei Komuro, a non-aristocratic classmate from college last month. She has since been called Mako Komuro.
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The princess’s relationship was sensitive in Japan. Media wrote about alleged financial difficulties within her in-laws and protests took place on the day of the wedding. There was also much criticism from conservative quarters, because the princess would not fulfill her imperial duty by marrying a civilian. There were also protests in the streets against the marriage.
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According to Reuters news agency, Princess Mako dropped a government subsidy of 1.1 million euros. Female members of the Imperial family lose their title if they marry a ‘common man’. They will receive a one-off allowance of 150 million yen (converted 1.1 million euros) in return. Mako dropped that allowance because there was too much fuss about it. “A necessary choice”, Mako called it earlier at a press conference.
The couple will now live in New York. Komuro also lived there. He studied law there until last May. Princess Mako said of it earlier: “There will be different difficulties when we start our new life, but we will go through it together as we have done in the past.”
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