Princess Mako's wedding postponed until 2020

More BS from the IHA. Let these two young one's start their lives together!

Sounds like Mr. Komuro was a little too common for the Imperial Household. The gossip magazines were working overtime digging up dirt about him and his family. Perhaps in a few months, the princess will decide to move abroad to study for a while, and then the wedding will be quietly cancelled.

A two year postponement is not a little thing. There is a lot more to this. I suspect it has to do with her marrying a commoner and they are hoping she’ll change her mind and marry her cousin.

The TV news said it was too close to the emperor's abdication

They need more time to plan for a wedding especially with a long list of VIPs and their schedules. Pretty convincing if you ask me.

What is her monthly pocket money? Does she get more money by remaining imperial until 2020?

Japanese news reported, father committed suicide, mother has history of not repaying loans. When they got engaged, father's estranged family came back into the picture. All of these things seem unsightly for the IHA. Not sure is she wants to back out, or if they are hoping she will give it up and find someone else, perhaps with a better background!

Poor guys, their wedding must be torture.

Ha, ha,f of the weddings I’ve been to here was torture for months for at least either the husband or wife.

Thanks Mark, that says it all.

Yawn. Except for the fact that they waste my taxes, I tire of the endless fawning over these royals.

The mother apparently was engaged and later broke off the engagement to a man who demanded payment of his 4 million yen loan to her that was used for Komuro’s education. She claims it was a gift. There must have been a diamond ring in there too somewhere. Wonder if that was returned.

Could this be karma coming back to bite her in her son’s engagement postponed and later canceled?

I suspect it has to do with her marrying a commoner and they are hoping she’ll change her mind and marry her cousin.

Yeah! That or one of the infinite number of other possibilities.

The mother seems to be a piece of work. I read some weird stuff about her last year, something about trying to become an astrologist, and that she's very odd and difficult to get along with. I don't remember all of it, but I do remember thinking that it doesn't seem like a good match.

I hope the postponement is the beginning of backing out of the marriage.

The mill has the maternal grandfather a Korean and Komuro went to a Canadian International School where many students of Korean descent are enrolled.

Mako said in a statement published by Japanese media, including the Mainichi newspaper, that the couple decided to postpone their wedding until 2020

> Mako wrote. "We believe that we have rushed various things too much."

> Mako said the couple wishes to think about marriage more deeply and concretely

Anyone else noticed the pattern here? Mako said, Mako wrote, Mako said? Imperial House basically said "That commoners mother is bad news and you're better of without him, don't bring shame to the family"

But silence from the boy, what he says doesn't matter. LoL

They should just elope, move to Hawaii, and renounce their Japanese citizenship. Lets see the IHA get their knickers in a bunch over that!

Buracratic involvment in personal lives, that's not fair at all. These people are prisoners of a self serving system that justifies its self brutally controlling human beings.

Tokyo 2020 Olympics, on the hush.. they have a slot, as a new event.

Pushing ahead quickly and enthusiastically with the marriage would have been the best thing for everyone concerned.

@quercetum

The mill has the maternal grandfather a Korean and Komuro went to a Canadian International School where many students of Korean descent are enrolled.

That shouldnt be an issue really - in the minds of sane people anyway. The current Emperor confirmed that the Japanese royals have Korean ancestors.

Yes nedotjp - cynically I thought the same.

First let some recent -ive news die down and then re-schedule as part of the Big 2020 year.

Which coincidentally happens to be Abe Inc's next big do or die year.

What better bread, nay cake for the masses, than a Royal Wedding and the Olympic Circus all rolled into one glorious year. The people will be so happy with the status quo, they won't even consider voting against the regime.

Could be wrong, but it's definitely a political bonanza.

@quercetum

The mill has the maternal grandfather a Korean and Komuro went to a Canadian International School where many students of Korean descent are enrolled.

That shouldnt be an issue really - in the minds of sane people anyway. The current Emperor confirmed that the Japanese royals have Korean ancestors.

Not an issue at all. The thing is wouldn’t you do the background checks before you announced the engagement? To allow a public announcement without a check by the IHA seems unlikely.

@ quercetum - Yeah, just people in the Japanese rumour mill (tabloids, online and others) doing what they do best - being vultures, morally and ethically bankrupt!

They need more time to plan for a wedding especially with a long list of VIPs and their schedules. Pretty convincing if you ask me.

quercetum - not to me. The most high-profile royal wedding in recent years was Wiilam and Kate, a much much bigger event, and it was less than a year between the announcement of the engagement and the wedding.

Although the private lives of Mako and Kei are none of our business, it rankles being fed a line by the IHA with a very strong whiff of BS.

So? the mom had issues. Not him. He is going to marry Mako, not his mother. What is this, 1920?

It seems unlikely the IHA would announce the engagement in the first place until after they had fully vetted the potential partner (wth him being quietly paid off if found to be 'unsuitable'), or that they would announce even a provisional date for the wedding without taking into account all the petty ceremonies that (apparently) have to be got through.

Sounds to me that the couple themselves are having second thoughts.

I don't read the gossip mags so I have no idea what kind of 'dirt' they might have dug up about Komuro's family. Maybe he's the one with cold feet, after a taste of what it's like in the limelight.

Pity, they seem such a nice couple.

I smell a rat.

Just wait when the olympics are underway, they will announce "they broke up"  due to an "emperial misunderstanding with the Kei Komuro's family"

It is difficult the royal family wins popularity and respect in the future as is enjoyed by the current emperor and the empress after their retirement.

Contrast this with Prince Harry who has decided to 'rush' through with his marriage to a commoner in showbiz and who's part-black. And he's also put his foot down and demanded that Auntie Sarah attend the wedding to boot!

Didn't he announce his wedding after these two did so?

quercetum:

The mill has the maternal grandfather a Korean and Komuro went to a Canadian International School where many students of Korean descent are enrolled.

Yeah, and Mako's grandfather has more or less admitted his forefathers came from the Korean peninsula and that he has an affinity to the Koreans. So there's a black mark on both sides.

All of these comments because of a delayed wedding?

Perhaps Trump had something to do with this?

Maybe the mother is playing the long con and hoping to get some of that sweet payout that the princess will receive. Our tax money at work!

In the grand scheme of things, does it really matter what his family life is like?  After all once she is married she becomes a "commoner" so out of the IHA reach.  What should really be at the forefront of people's minds is the fact that because she is marrying a "commoner" and loses her status, that the IHA really doesn't have the rest of Japan at heart since everyone else are just "commoners" who don't really matter.  Wonder what would happen if they held some type of Royal event and everyone just looked the other way?

There is a lot of pressure on these two. One is a princess the other a dysfunctional family. Better be sure they are in it for the long haul.

One is a princess the other a dysfunctional family. Better be sure they are in it for the long haul.

The princess isn’t too far from a dysfunctional family herself.

What should really be at the forefront... is the fact that she is marrying a "commoner" and loses her status

She already wants to return to the Imperial Family. Is this a Tom Canty/ Edward Tudor situation?

Circumstances happen in things related to love & families. Welcome to the real world.

Brides prerogative !!!

His father committed suicide, and his mother doesn't pay her debts. Can't have that in the family

Might go for a 3-for-1 instead. Abdication, new Emperor, and wedding. Think of the savings!

Just so long as it's before the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

She's so cute and aristocratic...she deserves way better than this shady character

Some have said that maybe He is getting cold feet after realizing he will be under the media microscope. Not after marriage. After marriage she’s kicked to the curb with the rest of us commoners and they live on his salary. She doesn’t even get to go to family gatherings anymore. (After all this is 2018 so the IHA is only 200 years behind.)

I agree with Cleo. Sounds like a slow break up that will peter out with little recognition.

100:1 odds this marriage is over before it begins...tick tock, tick tock. And THIS is the reason why celebrities (royals included) should stop making this pointless announcements and save face.

I don't see the deal with marrying a common, everyday guy. Other royals have done it; Prince William, Harry, Prince Fredrick of Denmark, Charles and Diana.

I think it is healthy to marry outside the royal bloodline. Because, in- breeding within the family causes all sorts of health problems. Take a look at King Tut's family. Full of health problems from in- breeding.

@MarkX Spot on!

The mill has the maternal grandfather a Korean and Komuro went to a Canadian International School where many students of Korean descent are enrolled.

That shouldnt be an issue really - in the minds of sane people anyway. The current Emperor confirmed that the Japanese royals have Korean ancestors.

4( +5 / -1 )

Newsflash! Most Japanese people have some Korean ancestors if you start going back far enough. The Korean peninsula is only a hop, skip and a jump from Japan after all.

I tried to marry once, but it was rejected by the father because of a background check.

Kids should never be responsible for what they parents or relatives did. Mako's great-grandfather Hirohito is directly responsible for many atrocities committed by imperial forces during WW2, making him a criminal, but it doesn't make Mako responsible for his crimes, she is just a girl who wants to be happy. The same can be said about Kei.

"Let's pack as many events as humanly possible for the year 2020! We want Japan to be non stop with news worthy events leading up to the Olympics, so the world can see!!!!"

Can we just finish off whatever business we realistically can now, and move on to other important problems to take care of? Why does everything have to wait till March, April, or 2020?!?!

Being a cynic, I would suggest the Imperial Household Agency has their nasty little hands in this.

Punishment for being non conformist maybe. Standing up to this vicious regime maybe. Just look at our Crown Princess, bullied to comply, could the same thing be happening here.

Educator60 what are you talking about? Same sex marriage? Where did that come from? As a female marrying a commoner removers her for all extensive purposes from the family. Obviously and hopefully she is a daughter and loved by her family. I wish her a normal life full of ups and down supported by her family. And separated from the imperial agency forever.

They are already old. They should elope to Hawaii before she becomes too old.

Coinciding with the Olympics ?