Japan's Princess Ayako has announced she is to marry a commoner in a move that will mean giving up her royal status.
The 27-year-old will marry Kei Moriya, a 32-year-old employee of shipping firm NYK Line, at Tokyo's Meiji Jingu shrine on October 29, according to Japan's Imperial Household Agency.
Princess Ayako, daughter of the late Prince Takamodo, a cousin of Emperor Akihito, becomes the second Japanese princess in under two years to announce she is marrying a commoner.
In September last year, Princess Mako, Emperor Akihito's oldest grandchild, and her college classmate Kei Komuro announced their engagement.
Female members of the Imperial family have no claim to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
As with all women in her family, the princesses will lose their royal status upon marriage to commoners - a law that does not apply to male members of the family.
Ayako met Moriya, who has a master's degree in social welfare and now works for the shipping firm NYK Line, under a year ago having been introduced to him by her mother Princess Takamodo in December, the Imperial Household revealed.
According to CNN, she will have to leave the royal family after exchanging vows - but will receive a bonus payment in the region of a million U.S. dollars.
Unlike her cousin Mako, Ayako is not a direct descendent of Emperor Akihito, who is planning to abdicate next year.
Mako announced plans to engage one for the Imperial Household Agency to reveal in February that the wedding, originally set for November, would be delayed until 2020, citing lack of time for preparations.
At the time, the media quoted Mako as saying in a statement that the couple decided to postpone the wedding until after the emperor's abdication.
The sudden announcement triggered speculation that the postponement may be linked to tabloid bashing on Komuro's family background.
The status of the emperor is sensitive in Japan - a legacy of the massive Pacific war waged in the name of Akihito's father Hirohito, who died in 1989.
Akihito has keenly embraced the more modern role as a symbol of the state which was imposed on the royal family after World War II ended. Previous emperors including Hirohito had been treated as semi-divine.
But the reigning emperor shocked the country in 2016 when he signalled his desire to end his public duties, citing his age and health problems.
Akihito will be the first emperor to retire in more than two centuries in a royal family that traces its lineage back more than 2,600 years.
Japan's crown prince Naruhito will ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne next May.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
