Is the romance of Japan's Prince Akihito and his commoner fiancée Michiko Shoda, which ripened shyly on the tennis courts of Tokyo, a love match after all? Cruelly thwacking the charming legend, a spokesman for the imperial household told the astounded Diet that nothing so silly as affection had a part in the troth-pledging; plain, old-fashioned parental bride-picking had done the trick. "The engagement of the Crown Prince was not the result of unthinking love," said the spokesman, adding obscurely, "I have observed the Prince and was compelled to admire his mature and...
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