Japanese Princess Ayako of Takamadoo is giving up her royal title to marry a commoner.

It has been announced that the 27-year-old royal is engaged to Kei Moriya, a 32-year-old worker at the shipping firm NYK Line and the two are set to marry at the Meiji Jingu Shrine in Shibuya Ward in Tokyo on Oct. 29, reports The Japan Times.

Now because Moriya, who met his future wife in December of last year, is a commoner, Japanese royal custom dictates that Ayako will lose her princess title after the wedding.

During a press conference on Monday, Princess Ayako, the youngest daughter of Norihito, Prince Takamado and Hisako, Princess Takamado, says when she first met her betrothed, the chat between the two was "so lively that it didn't feel like we had just met and that I had so much fun that I forgot about time."

But, despite his non-royal status, Moriya's family already had ties to the imperial family; his late mother was a friend of Princess Ayako's mother, Princess Hisako.

"As I met him many times, I became attracted to his kind, smart and decisive nature," Princess Ayako said, per The Japan Times. "I don't know what my mother's intentions were in introducing him to me, but as the two of us went to various places together and shared our time and memories, we became naturally drawn to each other. I think we were able to come this far thanks to the wonderful ties started by our mothers."

Princess Ayako's isn't the first royal in Japan to give up her royal title for love recently; Princess Mako, eldest grandchild of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, made global headlines last September when the Imperial Palace announced she had decided to get engaged to a commoner and law firm employee, Kei Komuro. However that wedding has been postponed until 2020. (The Japan Times)

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