Japan’s Princess Mako suffering PTSD over media coverage as October 26 date set for marriage to commoner Kei Komuro

Princess Mako’s marriage to her college sweetheart is set to take place on October 26, the Imperial Household Agency has announced

It also revealed that the princess is suffering from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder due to media interest in the relationship, raising uncomfortable parallels to the experience of Princess Masako

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Published: 1:38pm, 1 Oct 2021Updated: 9:50pm, 1 Oct 2021

Japan’s Princess Mako will marry her commoner boyfriend, Kei Komuro, on October 26, the Imperial Household Agency said on Friday, in an announcement that also took aim at the nation’s tabloid media over its frenzied coverage on the couple’s relationship over the last four years.

The agency confirmed widespread speculation that the wedding would be held before the end of the month and that Mako, the oldest niece of Emperor Naruhito, and Komuro would hold a press conference after registering the marriage.

It is expected that the couple will subsequently move to the United States, where Komuro is employed by a law firm in New York.

The agency used the announcement to state that the princess was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder due to the media interest in her relationship with Komuro, who has been embroiled in a long-running controversy over suggestions that his mother owes a former boyfriend 4 million yen (US$36,000) that was allegedly borrowed to pay the costs of his university education.

The princess’ experience has uncanny echoes of that of Princess Masako, an Oxford-educated commoner who married then Prince Naruhito in June 1993 and immediately found herself the centre of speculation about when she would produce a son and heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne.