Princess Mako of Japan makes first official appearance since wedding postponement
Princess Mako of Japan has made her first official public appearance since postponing her 2018 wedding. Emperor Akihito's 26-year-old granddaughter popped by a calligraphy exhibition in Tokyo on Friday, wearing a pink suit with pearls. The princess and her husband-to-be, commoner Kei Komuro, will wait to wed until at least 2020 because of “immaturity” they recently announced.
The Princess's nuptials were set to be one of three royal weddings planned for this year, along with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's May ceremony, and Princess Eugenie's October wedding as she marries Jack Brooksbank. "It is because of our immaturity and we just regret it," the couple explained in a statement (via CNN) on 6 February. "I wish to think about marriage more deeply and concretely and give sufficient time to prepare our marriage and for after the marriage." Mako noted that she and Kei "rushed various things". She said, "We feel extremely sorry for causing great trouble and further burden to those who have willingly supported us."
TAP TO VIEW GALLERYPrincess Mako attended a calligraphy exhibition in Tokyo
Last year it was revealed that Princess Mako would be giving up her royal status for love. Japan's centuries-old law requires a Princess to leave the imperial family if she marries a commoner. Mako and her fiancé, who once starred as the "Prince of the Sea" in a beach tourism campaign for the city of Fujisawa, met five years ago at a study-abroad event held at a restaurant in Tokyo’s Shibuya district when they were both students at the International Christian University.
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The 26-year-old Princess looked happy and relaxed as she chatted with calligrapher Hakuyo Kaneoka
The couple's nuptials would follow Emperor Akihito's abdication on 30 April 2019. Japan's ruler first hinted he planned to step down from the Chyrsanthemum Throne in a 2016 interview. In December last year the decision was made official, which means Akihito will be the first Japanese Emperor to abdicate in about 200 years.
