Feb. 6 (UPI) — Japan’s Princess Mako is postponing her wedding due to “lack of preparation.”
The 26-year-old Japanese royal will delay her marriage to Kei Komuro until at least 2020, according to CNN.
“I wish to think about marriage more deeply and concretely and give sufficient time to prepare our marriage and for after the marriage,” Princess Mako said in a statement.
“We feel extremely sorry for causing great trouble and further burden to those who have willingly supported us,” she added.
Princess Mako and Komuro were to become formally engaged in March before marrying Nov. 4. The Imperial Household Agency confirmed the couple still intend to tie the knot.
“The intention of the two to get married hasn’t changed at all,” agency official Takakaru Kaji said, according to the Japan Times.
Princess Mako and Komuro first met at International Christian University in 2012, and announced their intent to marry in November. Princess Mako, the eldest granddaughter of Emperor Akihito, will leave the imperial family to wed Komuro.
Japanese imperial law dictates a princess must give up her royal status upon marriage to a commoner. Komuro, who once starred as the “Prince of the Sea” in a tourism campaign, works as a legal assistant.
