Japan’s reluctant princess, Empress Masako

It’s been a big couple of weeks for royal events. On this side of the world, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor arrived. On the other, Emperor Naruhito’s accession to the chrysanthemum throne of Japan marked the beginning of a new era. All eyes however have been on the new Empress Masako, who has kept largely out of public view for many years. So who is Japan’s enigmatic new Empress?

A month after marrying Crown Prince Naruhito in 1993, Princess Masako was seated at a state banquet between Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin. She chatted with Clinton in English, Yeltsin in Russian, and greeted Francois Mitterrand in French. She seemed like a breath of fresh air blowing through the staid old imperial palace. People wondered if the arrival of this western-educated young woman into the imperial family would bring about a change in the position of Japanese women.

But it wasn’t to be. Twenty five years on, the liberated and outspoken former diplomat is barely recognisable in the sphinx-like figure, sheathed in white, who stood silently behind her husband as he was enthroned as Emperor.