Japan’s Princess Mako and ‘commoner’ husband to be ‘The new Meghan and Harry’
By Emily Smith
September 28, 2021 | 7:06pm
Kei Komuro and Princess Mako.The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Imag
We can’t wait for their Oprah interview.
Japanese media is in a frenzy that Princess Mako, the 29-year-old niece of Emperor Naruhito, is marrying her “commoner” sweetheart, Kei Komuro, who graduated in May from New York’s Fordham Law School and now works for an NYC law firm.
Komuro, 29, returned to Japan on Monday for their wedding. According to Japanese news outlets they are expected to marry in the next two months, and they will both return to NYC to live full time.
Insiders say the pair will be “the Meghan and Harry of Japan, controversially leaving behind a royal life to start a new life in the States.”
Ulrika Yui from Japan’s Fuji TV told Page Six, “We are curious to know how US media is approaching this news. And if Princess Mako will have to expect paparazzi photographers around her once she is settled in New York?
“Many people are trying to link it to Prince Harry and Meghan, making it a similar story.”
“Are the American people welcoming [of them], and looking forward to the Japanese Princess moving to US? Japanese media has been very harsh on her and her fiancé especially, but overseas reactions seem a bit different.”
Mako and Komuro met in 2012 at a restaurant while they were both studying at the International Christian University in Tokyo. They announced their engagement in 2017 when her grandfather, Akihito, was emperor of Japan and planned to marry the following year.
But their nuptials were delayed by a financial dispute over $36,000 in financial support — including money spent on Komuro’s education — involving his mother and a former fiancé, according to Kyodo News.
His mother’s dispute was an embarrassment for the imperial family and divided public opinion. Some Japanese said the marriage should be scrapped, while others said the couple should pursue their romance.
Given that her wedding was not fully backed by the people, Mako offered to decline all official wedding rituals and a payment of up to 150 million yen ($1.35 million) she is entitled to receive when leaving the imperial family and marrying a commoner. The Japanese government is set to agree that she forgo the payment.
Komuro left the US for Tokyo with his hair in a rebellious ponytail, making a bold statement for someone marrying into a traditional Japanese imperial family.
He is expected to hold a news conference with his wife-to-be after spending two weeks under quarantine, in keeping with the country’s COVID-19 protocol.
Princess Mako has a master’s degree in art museum and gallery studies from the University of Leicester and currently works as a special researcher at the University Museum of the University of Tokyo.
Art insiders say top New York galleries are already seeking to hire her, given her knowledge and connections in Japan.
There is a precedent for royal ex-pats finding employment in the New York gallery world: Britain’s Princess Eugenie moved to New York in 2013 to work for online auction house Paddle8, before returning to London in 2015 to work for art gallery Hauser & Wirth
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眞子さまはニューヨークのギャラリー勤務へ 関係者が就職先紹介…米メディア報道
配信
来月結婚が予定さている秋篠宮家の長女・眞子さま（29）と小室圭さん（29）について、米紙ニューヨーク・ポストの芸能サイト「ページ・シックス」が特集した。
ページ・シックスは日本の国内メディアが2人の結婚をめぐり過熱報道を続けているとし、関係者の話として「物議をよそに米国で新たに結婚生活を始めるという、まさに日本版ハリ・メガだ」と紹介。“ハリ・メガ”とは結婚を機に米国に移住した英王室のヘンリー王子とメーガン妃のこと。2人は英王室に反発する形で2020年3月末で王室を離脱。カナダでの短期滞在を経てカリフォルニア州に移住した。
小室さんと結婚する眞子さまもまた、パスポートを取得し、夫の勤務先がある米ニューヨークに渡るとみられる。
ニューヨークは物価が高く、小室さんの稼ぎだけでは心もとないといわれる。そこで浮上しているのが、眞子さまの“共働き説”。そのためには眞子さま自身が就業ビザを取得する必要があるが、肝心の“就職先”については「心配ご無用」なようだ。
同サイトはニューヨークのギャラリー関係者がすでに新たな仕事を紹介する準備を進めていると報道。
前例としてアンドルー英王子の次女・ユージェニー王女が2013年、同市で2年間生活した際にはオンラインオークションハウス「パドル8」に勤務し、ロンドン帰国後は現代美術ギャラリー「ハウザー＆ワース」に就職したとし、ギャラリー界のつながりについて触れた。
眞子さまは
国際基督教大学卒業後、
米レスター大大学院に留学。
博物館学を研究し、2016年1月に博士号を取得した。
同年4月に東京大学総合研究博物館の特任研究員に就任し、
東京・丸の内の博物館「インターメディアテク」での勤務を始めた。
9月末で同所を退職するが、米国でもそのキャリアを存分に生かすことになりそうだ
