Princess Masako to attend Brunei prince's wedding

Princess Masako to attend Brunei prince's wedding

Japan's Imperial Household Agency said on Monday that Crown Princess Masako, who has been suffering from an adjustment disorder, may attend the wedding ceremony of Brunei's Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah in September with her husband, Crown Prince Naruhito.

The agency said it will decide soon if Masako will attend the wedding ceremony of the Southeast Asian country's crown prince after consulting with her doctors.

If it happens, it will be the first time since last December that Princess Masako will have conducted official duties.

The 40-year-old princess has been out of the limelight for eight months. The Imperial Household Agency had been relatively quiet about her condition, although it did report that Masako was suffering from shingles, triggered by stress and fatigue.

However, the conservative agency announced last month that the princess's doctors had diagnosed Masako with anxiety and depression, brought on by an adjustment disorder due to stress.

An adjustment disorder occurs when a person develops emotional or behavioral symptoms in response to identifiable stress, according to health experts.

The agency said Princess Masako "has faced stress caused by her special status as crown princess, problems relating to her pregnancy and miscarriage, and her busy life, in which she has difficulties drawing a line between the public and the private."

Japanese public concern over Masako's illness has escalated with murmurings of a possible divorce if she doesn't produce a male heir to the throne.

After a miscarriage in 1999, the royal couple had their first child in December 2001 -- a girl, Princess Aiko.

Current Japanese law does not allow women to assume the throne.

Masako, a former foreign ministry diplomat, married into the royal family as a commoner in 1993. --DPA

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GetDPA 1.10 -- AUG 16, 2004 14:34:04