Japan's Crown Princess Masako departs on first official visit since being diagnosed with stress disorder

GlobalPost

Japan's Crown Princess Masako is on her first official overseas trip since she became ill with "stress" a decade ago.

Masako, a 49-year-old former diplomat, is accompanying her husband, Crown Prince Naruhito, on his six-day trip to the Netherlands.

The couple will attend Tuesday's coronation of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander as the new Dutch king.

The US-educated Masako has been undergoing treatment for a stress-induced illness for a decade.

She was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder after reportedly struggling with life as part of one of the world's oldest and most tradition-bound monarchies.

The Associated Press wrote that she developed the illness soon after giving birth to the couple's only daughter, Aiko, who is now 11.

She was getting better, the AP cited palace doctors as saying, though she hardly appeared in public.

During what is also Masako's first official visit abroad in nearly 11 years — the couple went to New Zealand and Australia in late 2002 — Masako may skip certain events depending on her condition, Fox News reported.


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