Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito won the heart of his Harvard-educated bride, nervous about her ability to adapt to the conservative court, by promising to protect her "forever with all his might."
Eleven years later, he is living up to his pledge.
The two marked their wedding anniversary yesterday as uncertainty swirled about when Crown Princess Masako, a former diplomat who has been suffering from a stress-related illness since December, would be able to resume her official duties.
The woes of the 40-year-old princess have shone a harsh spotlight on the pressures of her position and prompted surprisingly blunt comments in her defense from her husband, setting off an unusually public feud over her situation.
In the latest round, Naruhito said on Tuesday that steps were needed to make Masako's life more bearable.
TOTALLY EXHAUSTED
"Creating an environment where she will be able to regain her confidence and energy, and use them in activities that reflect a new era is the most important thing," he said in a statement, adding that he would do his utmost to support his wife.
Naruhito told reporters last month that Masako had tried hard to adapt to life in the imperial household and that the effort had "totally exhausted" her.
"It is true there were moves to negate Masako's career and her personality, which was influenced by that career," he said.
Naruhito apologized on Tuesday for causing worry to his parents, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, with his previous statements, but did not retract them.
The statements, and his persistence, are all the more remarkable because Naruhito, like the rest of the imperial family, has been taught since childhood to avoid controversy.
Royal watchers say his remarks have struck a responsive chord among ordinary Japanese women, many of whom feel Masako's problems are symbolic of their own.
"She had to give up her promising career to go into a very conservative family -- the most conservative family in Japan," said Yuko Kawanishi, a sociologist at Tokyo Gakugei University.
"There are lots of remnants of such traditions. Many people are impressed with the prince and the way he came out with such sincerity, seeming to live up to his promises," she said.
FOR WIFE AND DAUGHTER
Much of the pressure on Masako has come from the need for an heir. Their only child, born after eight years of marriage, is a girl, Aiko, and laws currently prohibit female succession.
No boys have been born into the imperial family since Akishino, Naruhito's younger brother, in 1965. Both of Akishino's children are girls.
Disappointment over Aiko's gender prompted Japan's top courtier to call publicly for the royal couple to have a second child and later for Akishino and his wife to consider a third.
Some royal watchers say Naruhito's statements have been aimed at the future of his daughter as well as his wife, that he has been signaling there is unlikely to be another child and the country should start preparing for an empress, also allowing Masako to take on the "royal envoy" role she had hoped for.
In retrospect, there have been indications for several years that the couple have chafed under the court's conservative ways.
On their 10th anniversary last year, Masako said in a statement, "Having entered a completely new world from the one I had known before, I have sometimes encountered difficulties I had never even imagined.
"At such times, the crown prince was always at my side ... and for this I am most profoundly grateful."
The conservative Yomiuri Shimbun daily called on Wednesday for priority to be on the wishes of the couple and wondered why nothing had been done before the situation grew this serious.
"People want to see the royal couple brimming with happiness, not in a state of constant agony," it said in an editorial.
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