Tokyo: Wearing a simple white dress and pearls, Japan's Princess Sayako bid farewell to palace life on Tuesday to wed a Tokyo city employee in a low-key ceremony marking the first time that an Emperor's daughter has married a commoner.
Thousands of well-wishers cheered as an official black car slowly drove Sayako, 36, out of the gates of the palace to the elegant Imperial Hotel, where she married Yoshiki Kuroda in a wedding that was austere by royal standards.
Under Japanese law, Sayako, the daughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, lost her royal status by marrying, and will now live the life of a taxpaying commoner, without her generous palace allowance.
To prepare for the dramatic shift to commoner status, Sayako has taken driving lessons and practiced shopping at supermarkets; the couple has studied catalogs to choose furniture and appliances for their new home.
The two are childhood acquaintances, but their romance began two years ago at a tennis party.
The postnuptials also were to be low key, the Imperial Household Agency has said. After the reception, the newlyweds were to dine at the hotel and go straight to their new home.
Palace officials registered the marriage at a government office on their behalf during the wedding, officially making the princess Sayako Kuroda, the agency said. The Shinto-style ritual, performed by the chief priest of Ise Shrine in central Japan, considered the nation's most sacred shrine, was attended by 31 people, including the Emperor and the Empress.
Comments
0 comment