Japan’s Prince Akishino has confided to a friend that his wife Princess Kiko will have a boy, who would be the first male heir born into the royal family in four decades, a magazine reported Thursday. The Shukan Bunshun quoted an unidentified friend who said the prince told him the tightly guarded news three months ago. | “If the baby is a boy, it would be the first male born to the imperial family since Akishino himself in 1965...” |
“A close friend asked Prince Akishino, ‘After having two daughters, Princesses Mako and Kako, would the next baby be a boy?’” the weekly said. “Prince Akishino smiled and clearly responded: ‘Yes, it seems that way’,” the magazine said.
The 39-year-old Princess Kiko is expected to give birth by Caesarean section next week. Japan has been holding its breath for months, with much of the public holding high hopes for a boy to maintain the male-only succession of the worldÂ’s oldest monarchy. The palace is yet to announce the gender of the fetus, only saying it is developing healthily. If the baby is a boy, it would be the first male born to the imperial family since Akishino himself in 1965. |