Fresh News from Royal Family

The Crown Prince Naruhito and the Crown Princess Masako is going to visit Netherland for attending the ceremonies related to the succession of the throne from the Queen Beatrix to the Prince Willem-Alexander later this month. The news was not about Naruhito but Masako. If she can visit the Netherland, it will be the first official foreign visit for her in these ten years. People are watching how her mental health is cured, but no guarantee of her readiness has been shown. The decision may reflect people’s growing frustration against Royal Family.

Masako’s last foreign visit was to New Zealand and Australia in 2002. After the visit, she fell in recuperation, mostly out of public eye. In 2003, she reportedly diagnosed as suffering from shingles, and as adjustment disorder in 2004. Reports about her have been limited to some activities related to taking care of her daughter, Princess Aiko. Compared to active attitude of the Empress Michiko in relieving sufferers in the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, the efforts Masako made for Tohoku area are not fully obvious for the eyes of people in Japan. That is the reason why public is somewhat negative against the Royal Family.

According to reports of newspapers, the decision was made by the Royal Prince and Princess. But, there was an unusual pressure from the Grand Steward of Imperial Household Agency to urge their decision soon, reflecting public frustration. Although the Prince and Princess consulted with medical doctors, there is a possibility of cancellation of the trip based on her health condition. Details of the decision have not been delivered from the always-secretive agency.

The public attitude has been getting severe to the Royal couple. According to the reports of weekly magazines, an old man hurled harsh words at the Prince Family in Tokyo station, on their way to ski vacation in late March. “Thieves of our tax money with fake illness and sabotage. Get out of the Royal Family,” screamed the man. When they arrived Nagano station, old woman said to them, “Go the devastated area, too.” Another magazine reported that Masako wore a Bvlgari necklace of ¥2 million and a Chanel handbag of ¥500 thousand, trying to tell how the family is far from ordinary citizens.

But it is unclear how her condition has been crucial. Masako was formerly a diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an organization which sometimes collide with Imperial Household Agency over protocols of events. From the beginning of her marriage with the Prince, many people were afraid of uneasy relationship between her and the agency. No body really knows the true reason why Masako fell ill in her life in the Imperial Family.