True Love Has Its Own Status
Posted by HAREEM ABRO
The recent British royal wedding gave everyone a feel of fairy-tale wedding. The lavish dress and celebrations and much appreciation for Prince Harry to wed a girl who doesn’t belong to royalty or to white people race. True love! Yet, another fairy-tale is here to melt our hearts and make us believe in importance and value of an individual excluding any and all materialistic attractions.
Two Japanese princesses have left the Imperial Family this decade to marry a commoner. Following the steps of elder sister, Princess Ayako of Japan has given up her royal title to marry a commoner. Princess Ayako bid farewell to Emperor Akihito last week, appearing before him wearing a tiara and a pale Western-style gown.
The marriage ceremony was held with Kei Moriya, 32, an employee with major shipping firm Nippon Yusen at Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine. The princess shared that they met because their mothers were friends. Moriya said he had been attracted to her gentle spirit.
“And I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her,”
Princess Ayako will also receive $1.3 million as a last allowance to pursue her new life with commoner.
Plot twist: as romantic as it sounds, there are certain circumstances as well:
Japan’s Imperial Family may be the oldest continuous monarchy in human history, but it’s shrinking; few blood male relative could be considered for marriage and even fewer are potential suitors, leaving princess with few choices. Japan also faced a 41-year royal male drought, that between 1965 and 2006 no prince was born but only princesses. Currently only four heirs to the throne: Crown Prince Naruhito, 58; Prince Akishino, 52; Prince Hisahito, 12; and Prince Hitachi, 82. Out of 18 members, six are unmarried princesses.
In 1947 under Imperial House Law and during America’s occupation of Japan, it was passed that any princesses who marry a commoner will lose royal status. The princess would be paid an amount to start a new life before total financial independence from imperial family support. Although this law doesn’t apply to prince who can marry any royal or commoner girl and confer royal status on their wives but only the sons from those marriages (not the daughters) then join the line of succession for the Chrysanthemum Throne.
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