Japan's Princess Mako married her former college classmate Kei Komuro on Tuesday, after a year-long engagement.
The newly-wedded Princess relinquished her imperial title since she married a commoner.
The wedding was limited to completing the official papers required for a marriage to move away from the usual ceremonies of imperial weddings, including the reception, according to the laws that oblige females to give up their titles if they marry layman people.
Mako appeared in television footage, wearing a simple light-colored dress and a pearl necklace, as she bid farewell to her parents and her 26-year-old sister Kaku at the entrance to their house. Although they were all wearing masks in keeping with Japan's coronavirus protocol, her mother could be seen fighting back tears that welled in her eyes.
Mako and Kei Komuro, both 30, announced their engagement four years ago, a move that was initially well received in Japan. However, things quickly turned upside down after tabloids reported a financial scandal involving Komuro's mother, prompting the press to turn against him.
The marriage was postponed as a result, so Komuro left Japan to study law in the United States in 2018, before returning last September.
However, Japan's Imperial Household Agency has reported that Princess Mako has married her "non-royal" boyfriend Kei Komuro.
The Japanese Kyodo News Agency added, today, Tuesday, that this marriage came after years of controversy over financial disputes surrounding the Komuro family that led to the abandonment of the traditional marriage ceremonies associated with the royal marriage.
The Imperial agency submitted legal papers to register the couple's marriage on their behalf, four years after announcing their relationship.
The newlyweds were initially scheduled to hold a press conference at a Tokyo hotel later in the day but opted to make only opening remarks and written answers to five pre-selected questions provided by the media.
Mako is the niece of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, and by law, female members of the royal family lose their royal status if they marry a commoner.
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