As much as it is a controversial royal instance in the Japanese empire, the decision to relinquish all her royal privileges to marry the love of her life, awe-inspired a lot of emotional support from the public towards the royal love-birds, Princess Mako, the eldest granddaughter of Emperor Akihito, and Kei Komuro, a commoner. Although much has changed over the period of three years, when the announcement was first made in 2017, the couple surely caused a romantic stir around the world.
Photo: Shizou Kambayashi/AFP