Japanese princess to wed outside royal family this year

Princess Mako will wed Kei Komuro by end of the year and the marriage will be held without the related ritual ceremonies, Anadolu Agency citing Kyodo News reported.

This would make Mako, the niece of Emperor Naruhito and the eldest daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito, the first female member of the royal family to skip the traditional wedding ceremonies after World War II.

The couple, who are both 29 years old and first met at university in Tokyo in 2012, may start their new life together in the US.

Under current rules, female members of Japan's imperial family lose their status if they marry someone who is not from a royal family.

Mako's 14-year-old brother Prince Hisahito is second in the line of succession and the only heir of his generation under Japanese imperial law, which states that "only males with male lineal descent from emperors" can take the throne.