Crown Prince, Anikatian Heiress Announce EngagementHis Imperial Highness the Crown Prince and Ms. Kim Yoo-Mee, pictured here in a portrait taken last year. The Crown Prince and Ms. Kim have announced their engagement after five years of courtship.
Saikyo His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince has become engaged to Ms. Kim Yoo-Mee of Anikatia, multiple sources reported this afternoon.
The engagement was first reported by the Imperial Press Office of the Imperial Household Agency, whose press statement was given to PBC and others at around 9 AM this morning. This was followed by confirmations from the Crown Prince as well as Ms. Kim, who spoke to their respective media outlets early this afternoon.
“I am thrilled, nervous, excited, all in one,” Crown Prince Nobuhito told PBC and others this afternoon. “It’s an indescribable feeling, really. We’re both tremendously excited to begin our lives together.” The Crown Prince told PBC that the actual proposal occurred late last night, after the conclusion of a dinner date at upscale restaurant Nobu in Ginza, a popular upscale shopping city.
“We were at dinner, and after the dinner had concluded we went to the rooftop deck [of the restaurant],” the Crown Prince related. “We stood there, staring out at the beautiful skyline and the silhouette of Mount Bandai, and in that moment I knew the time had come. I dropped to one knee and said ‘make me the happiest man on earth,’ and she just smiled and nodded yes.”
A post on Kim Yoo-Mee’s Instagram this afternoon showed the engagement ring, and had garnered more than 500,000 likes by press time. Addressing Anikatian and Prestonian media, the 23 year old Huadai heiress said that she was “thrilled...absolutely thrilled” to be engaged to the Crown Prince.
“It’s like living in a dream,” Kim told media from her apartment in Ginza this afternoon. “It still hasn’t fully hit me yet, the realization that this is all real.”
Who is Kim Yoo-Mee?23 year old Kim Yoo-Mee is the eldest daughter of industrialist and philanthropist Kim Mong-Guk, who serves as CEO of the conglomerate Huadai Group. She first met the Crown Prince in 2010 while he was studying abroad at Antiytia University, and was linked romantically by the Anikatian tabloid media almost immediately. She in turn studied abroad at Saikyo Imperial University, where the Crown Prince finished his degree in structural engineering in 2013. While romantically linked by both Anikatian and Prestonian presses, the couple kept a low public profile and Yoo-Mee did not make any appearances at Imperial ceremonies, leading to speculation that the relationship was not serious or had ended. The couple resurfaced in media recently with a new round of pictures last month showing them out shopping in Saikyo and Ginza; this coupled with Yoo-Mee’s mention in a list of attendees to the National Foundation Day parade in the Imperial reviewing stand heightened speculation of an impending engagement.
Kim Yoo-Mee splits her time between Antiytia, Anikatia and Ginza, Prestonia, where she lived while attending Saikyo Imperial University double-majoring in political science and Oriental linguistics. Since graduation she has continued residence in Prestonia while serving with the philanthropic and community outreach wing of Huadai Department Stores, part of her father’s conglomerate. With announcement of the engagement, it is expected that Ms. Kim will resign or curtail her duties with Huadai as her share of Imperial duties increases. Addressing the media, Kim said she was “excited” to undertake her new life as an Imperial consort; in a separate statement, the Crown Prince entreated a “compassionate, understanding approach” as the couple begins their new life together.
“My beloved has had only a few years to adapt to my lifestyle, the Imperial lifestyle, which is in many ways vastly different from any other,” the Crown Prince said. “There will be culture shock, there will be mistakes, as we settle in together and get used to this new chapter of our lives. I ask that the press and the public respect the process and our privacy throughout this process.” Imperial Household watchers have interpreted the Crown Prince’s comments as a veiled snipe at the Imperial Household Agency, with whom he has been reported to conflict on issues surrounding treatment of the Imperial Household.
Amid the Wedding Bells, Congratulations and ConsternationCongratulations from world leaders flooded in almost immediately after the news broke, with President Sui Anyi of Anikatia interrupting a routine press briefing to express her congratulations early this afternoon.
“To the happy couple, the daughter of one of our nation’s titans of industry and the son of a thousand-year dynasty which has made great strides toward peace and understanding between our nations, I offer my most heartfelt congratulations and well-wishes,” the President told an assembled press corps. “It is my hope that this union may serve as an enduring symbol of love and amity overcoming the dark shadows of the past, and represent a new and gilded page in the book of affairs between our Anikatia and the great Prestonian Empire.” Huadai CEO and father of the bride-to-be Kim Mong-guk also told media outlets that Sui had contacted him via phone to express her congratulations.
As congratulations flooded in from consular officials on behalf of their governments, in Prestonia itself Prime Minister Nakamura Shinichiro met with the Crown Prince and Ms. Kim in a private, informal meeting which lasted about thirty minutes, reportedly congratulating the couple on their engagement and discussing “some routine matters of state in the event,” according to a press release. This evening, the couple announced they would be joining the Emperor for a banquet in their honor, and the Emperor himself took the rare step of a public statement on the matter of his son’s engagement.
“We are thrilled that our son has found happiness, and very much pleased with his choice,” His Imperial Majesty said today in prepared remarks. “Ms. Kim is a wonderful young woman, and we look forward to her union with our family.” The Imperial Household Agency reiterated the Emperor’s blessing in a prepared statement to accompany His Majesty’s, while also stating that in accordance with the Imperial Household Law of 1949 the union would need to be approved by the Imperial Diet, a hurdle which is not expected to present any significant challenge.
While reactions from Prestonia, Anikatia and abroad were largely positive, the news was not all encouraging this evening as right-wing groups from both nations denounced the pending union. In Anikatia, a demonstration outside the Prestonian embassy attracted approximately 250, who chanted anti-Prestonian slogans and burned Prestonian flags before being dispersed by police. The group, identifying itself as the Anikatian National Union, said that it opposed what it called “sleeping with the enemy” and vowed to sue in Anikatian federal court to block the marital proceedings.
“Millions of our fathers died at their [Prestonian] hands,” ANU spokesman Sang Hyung-Kim told Anikatian media. “This is a dishonor and a disgrace to our country. Kim Mong-guk should be ashamed of the collaborationist whore he has raised; a true Anikatian does not sleep with the enemy.” Similar though more muted concerns were raised in Prestonia, where noted poet and author Sekiya Yukio lamented the “cheapening and mongrelization” of the Imperial Household on his blog this evening.
“Our divine dynasty, which has lasted 2700 years, has always been of the purest and noblest blood of Prestonia,” Sekiya wrote in a post which garnered over 2500 comments in the first hour. “To scorn the many eligible and noble ladies of Prestonia and instead take up a foreigner to wife is to cheapen what it means to be of the Imperial House. It is a defilement of the most noble race of people and the most noble house of humankind ever to dwell upon this earth. It shames me that we have been reduced to such.”
While Imperial authorities did not respond to the criticisms, Ministry for Public Safety officials and Saikyo Metropolitan Police did this evening confirm that a knife had been mailed to the Imperial Palace, in a symbolic shaming/threatening action for which Sekiya was reportedly wanted for questioning. Palace authorities said that they did not regard the threat as credible, but would be heightening security around Palace grounds, the Crown Prince and Ms. Kim for the foreseeable future.
Next Up: The Hows and Wheres of an Historic CeremonyDespite the historic announcement today, few details on the ceremony itself have been disclosed, with the Imperial Household Agency noting only that planning for the wedding was “in progress” and declining further question. The notoriously tight-lipped Agency did little to deter speculation and oddsmakers, however, and by press time this evening some ten-thousand bets had been entered on bookmaking websites and at casinos for everything from the time to nature of the ceremony. Imperial Household watchers have all broadly agreed that the ceremony will be carried out according to Kando religious tradition, as is typical of such ceremonies; however, incorporation of Yeosindo elements, which are broadly similar, remains likely. Ms. Kim self-identifies as a “non-practicing Yeosindoist,” having been presented to her temple at birth but eschewing traditional coming-of-age ceremonies and regular attendance. The extent to which Yeosindo elements are incorporated will largely depend on her personal preference, which has not been publicly stated. With regard to timing, most have the wedding occurring early to mid next year, possibly timed with an auspicious day of Spring which in Kando tradition is regarded as the best time to get married. The ceremony itself is likely to take place either on Palace grounds or on the grounds of Mizuma Grand Shrine, with the temporary marital shrine to be constructed in accordance with ancient methods as is the Imperial custom. Still, oddsmakers stress, this is an unprecedented event and little is certain going forward.
Even less-certain are the practical, temporal realities of such a high-profile international marriage; specifically, lawmakers on both sides have raised concerns for citizenship rights retained by Ms. Kim as well as any future children of the couple. Under Anikatian law, citizenship is not automatically renounced upon foreign marriage, and Ms. Kim has made no indication that she will renounce her Anikatian citizenship upon marrying into the Imperial Household; this would in theory make her a dual-citizen of Prestonia and Anikatia, though Imperial Household members are not Prestonian citizens as-such under law, being subject to a different interpretation. Most interestingly, if Ms. Kim chooses not to forego her Anikatian citizenship, any future children of the couple--including the future heir to the Clover Throne--would become dual citizens under Anikatia’s equal-inheritance laws. In remarks on the subject this evening, Anikatian President Sui Anyi told media that the situation was “in discussion” with the couple-to-be as well as consular officials from both nations.
“We understand that this is an unprecedented case, and we are working with the Prestonian government and our own consular officials to determine which laws apply in this circumstance and to come to an agreement which satisfies our respective constitutions in both letter and spirit, with regard to citizenship status,” Sui told assembled media.
IMPERIAL ENGAGEMENT- Crown Prince and Kim Yoo-Mee: A Timeline [ 5243 ]
- Dress or Hanbok? Oddsmakers Split on Wedding Day Attire [ 6418 ]
- Crown Prince: Engagement Should Send "Universal Message of Love" to Anikatians and Prestonians [ 1375 ]
- A Look Back At Imperial Weddings Throughout History [ 872 ]
NEWS OF THE WORLD - No Sign of Peace in Bogoria, Despite OPA Resolution [ 1824 ]
- Neidmar, Valinor Conclude Arms Deal [ 2782 ]
- Prestonian Troops Head to Valinor on Training Mission [ 1003 ]
- Ulthrannia, Tarsas Move Into Alibya Amid Criticism, Condemnation [ 1938 ]
Comments [ 5871 ]
E-mail
© The Prestonian Broadcasting Corporation 2015