Princess Mako
Her mother Princess Kiko longs for her
Princess Kiko and the former Princess Mako
© Dana Press
Since marrying a commoner, ex-princess Mako has lived in exile in New York and has not seen her family. In a statement on the occasion of her birthday, she now reveals how difficult it is for her mother, Princess Kiko, to separate.
Since her royal wedding to her middle-class friend Kei Komuro, 31, in October 2021, ex-princess Mako, 30, is no longer part of Japan’s imperial family. Before that, the couple experienced a real odyssey, which is said to have triggered post-traumatic stress disorder in Mako. On November 14, 2021, the newly married couple flew to their new life in exile in New York. Since then, the former royal has never seen her family again.
Now, on the occasion of her 56th birthday, Princess Kiko has written a statement about her relationship with her daughter – for the first time since the wedding. And it becomes clear: she misses her child.
Princess Mako: Her mother hopes “to be able to take her for a walk one day”
Shortly after their engagement in 2017, Kei and Mako Komuro were subjected to angry protests and a media mudslinging. The reason: the pressure from the Japanese people, the headlines surrounding Kei’s family financial problems and possibly the strictness of her own family. Nevertheless, her father, Crown Prince Fumihito, 56, made it clear in his recently published book “Akishinomiya” that he supports the marriage and criticizes the press’ harsh treatment of his daughter.
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And mother Kiko only has kind words for her daughter. In a statement shared with the Japan Times and Asahi, among others, she announced: “I can’t meet my daughter right now,” but she has a plan: “In the meantime, I’ll take care of the plants in our garden and would like to create banksia rose arches, hoping to one day with [Mako] Being able to go for a walk here”. The Banksia rose was Mako’s trademark when she was a princess and is a favorite flower of both Kiko and her husband.
Mako builds a new life for himself in New York
The law dictates that if a princess marries a commoner, she must leave the Japanese imperial family and renounce her royal title, as in Mako’s case. She then rejected a payment from the Japanese government of around 1.1 million euros, which is traditionally paid to women who lose their royal status at a wedding.
For almost a year, Mako and Kei have been trying to build their own lives in New York, going to work. The former princess is a volunteer curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Kei works as a paralegal and is currently trying to pass the bar exam for the third time.
Sources used: japantimes.co.jp, asahi.com, nippon.com