Still recovering from the 'adjustment disorder' which has seen her bow out of official duties since December 2003, Japan's Crown Princess Masako was briefly back in the public eye as she and her family headed off on holiday.
Smart in a navy blazer and crisp white skirt the 41-year-old former diplomat was accompanying her husband Crown Prince Naruhito and their four-year-old daughter Aiko to an imperial villa in the mountain resort of Nasu, 95 miles north of Tokyo.
Little Aiko is rarely seen outside the Imperial Palace compound in Tokyo where she lives with her parents, and the most recent images reveal the former toddler, immaculate in a crisp summer frock and frilly white ankle socks, is growing up fast.
Her mother was an outgoing career diplomat when she married into the world's oldest monarchy ten years ago, but since then has been under pressure to produce a male heir. In 1999 she suffered a miscarriage - blamed on stress – before giving birth to her daughter in December 2001.
Although a government panel has recently issued a proposal to allow reigning empresses, and February 2005 opinion poll revealed that 80 per cent of Japanese are in favour of a female emperor, officials continue to drag their heels in amending current legislation.
Three potential options were listed in the government report issued on July 26. The first would give preference to male heirs over females, allowing women to succeed only when there are no male heirs. The second entailed a system giving precedence to the eldest child, regardless of gender. Under the final proposal, Princess Aiko would have to cede to a younger male sibling, but she would maintain her right to succeed to the throne over a son of her own.
No male heir has been born into the Imperial family for the last four decades.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
