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| Princess Mako, who is the daughter of Crown Prince Akishino. (File photo by=Masatoshi Okauchi/Rex/Shutterstock) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] TOKYO: Japanese Princess Mako met with her uncle Emperor Naruhito and aunt Empress Masako on Friday before her controversial marriage to her commoner boyfriend Kei Komuro scheduled for next week.
The princess visited the couple at the Imperial Palace alone in lieu of the "Choken no Gi" rite, an official meeting with the emperor and empress on the occasion of a marriage involving a member of the imperial family. She skipped a series of ceremonies amid public concern over an unresolved financial dispute involving Komuro's mother.She’s also scheduled to meet her grandparents, former Emperor Akihito and former Empress Michiko, on Monday, the day before her marriage, according to the Imperial Household Agency. Under the current rules, women lose their royal status once they marry a commoner. The princess, who will turn 30 on Saturday, is expected to move to New York, where Komuro works at a law firm after their marriage is registered in Japan on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, her maternal grandfather Tatsuhiko Kawashima, 81, a professor emeritus at Gakushuin University, has been hospitalized since Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Princess Mako visited the Tokyo hospital with her mother, Crown Princess Kiko, and her younger sister, Princess Kako, on Tuesday afternoon to see Kawashima, the person said.
