Princess Mako: The outward change of Japan’s ex-princess

Princess Mako
So much has she changed externally (and internally?)

Princess Mako, 30, was once upon a time. Since her royal wedding – probably the saddest in the world – with her middle-class college friend Kei Komuro, 30, she no longer belongs to Japan’s imperial family. Shortly after their engagement in 2017, the couple was exposed to angry protests and a media battle in the mud – fortunately from which they seem to be recovering well in New York. Better still: Mako Komuro looks more relaxed than ever. Is that just because of her new look?

Princess Mako in exile in New York: has she finally arrived?

Gray oversize sweater, fir green skirt, black ballerinas, shoulder bag and loose, slightly tousled hair: Mako strolls through New York’s streets with Kei in a casual couple look. The color of her skirt goes wonderfully with his cozy sweater. Not only on the latest recordings from December 12th, which are available to the “People” magazine, the ex-royal shows her cool style, which she now seems to live out to the full.

While shopping for her new luxury apartment in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen district, she was already sneaking through the aisles of the US household goods chain “Bed, Bath & Beyond” in a casual oversize coat, loose jeans and boots.

The fact that she seems to live out her style more and more began on the day of her flight to New York on November 14, 2021. At Haneda Airport in Tokyo, she wore a blue blouse, loose-fitting trousers and her beautiful khaki coat.

Mako’s old life, old-fashioned style included

Six years earlier, Japan’s former princess was spotted at the same airport in a tight suit and black heels. Her look back then: old-fashioned. Who is surprised? The Japanese imperial family is considered backward and strict.

The law there still stipulates that if a princess marries a commoner, she must leave the imperial family and renounce her royal title – as in Mako’s case. She then refused a payment from the Japanese government equivalent to around 1.1 million euros, which is traditionally paid to women who lose their royal status at a wedding. Was that – in addition to her wedding to Kei – another step towards freedom and yourself?

How much the daughter of Crown Prince Akishino, 55, and Crown Princess Kiko, 55, has changed is illustrated by the following photos from two years ago.

In their royal appearances, for example During her trip to Bolivia in mid-July 2019, Mako often wore chic costumes in flashy colors. Her hair was always combed straight, mostly pinned together.

Sometimes there was even a hat in a matching color. In some looks, the former princess almost looked like a living Japanese doll. Did Mako feel good? One does not know. Her facial expression looked tense in most of the photos – unlike today.

After a life full of low blows: has Mako settled in?

Has Mako Komuro finally found himself in New York after a life full of blows? You want to wish it for her. A few days before her wedding to Kei, it was said that the niece of Emperor Naruhito, 61, would suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder after the hardships that followed her engagement in 2017. This is what the Japanese Imperial Household Agency claimed. Mako himself never confirmed that.

The reason: The pressure of the Japanese people, the headlines around Kei’s family problems and possibly also the strictness of her own family? Then her grandfather Tatsuhiko Kawashima died on November 4th at the age of 81, and husband Kei Komuro rattled through the bar exam. Maybe everything was getting too much for him too.

Princess Mako

This is the woman who gives up her royal life for love

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The ex-royal has now left all that behind, looks more modern, somehow more liberated. She fought for her love and has thus possibly come closer to her own ego – far away from the strict imperial court – than ever before.

Sources used: people.com, twitter.com, instagram.com, Dana Press, own research

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