Princess Mako of Japan and her boyfriend Kei Komuro will have to wait a little longer for their engagement to be officially announced. On Friday, the Imperial Household Agency explained that the announcement of the couple’s engagement has been postponed from Saturday. The reason is all down to extreme weather in the country. Torrential rain has persisted since Friday in Japan’s southwestern main island Kyushu, with rivers flooding and mudslides causing hundreds of people to be stranded in their villages. Several people have died in the floods.
Princess Mako of Japan has postponed her engagement announcement
Princess Mako, 25, and Kei Komuro, also 25, were due to hold a press conference to announce their engagement on Saturday afternoon, but have now postponed it out of respect for the victims on the areas affected by the floods. Japan Today reports that Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko and Princess Mako’s parents Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko approved the decision.
Princess Mako's boyfriend Kei Komuro
The press conference on Saturday would have been Princess Mako and Kei’s first public appearance together. They first met in 2012 at a restaurant, when they were both studying at the International Christian University in Tokyo. The princess then went on to study in the UK at the University of Leicester, earning her Master’s degree in Art Museum and Gallery Studies on 21 January. She went incognito for a year, living among students in a hall of residence, and even did a work placement at a local museum.
READ: Princess Mako of Japan graduates from Leicester University
Princess Mako is now preparing to wed, and is to give up her royal status by marrying boyfriend Kei, who works in a law firm and is not of royal descent. Japan’s law does not allow a princess to remain in the royal family after marrying a commoner.