International
Japanese get first glimpse of royal baby
TOKYO, DEC. 8. An admiring Japanese public got their first glimpse of the country's smallest Princess today when the eight-day-old baby and her proud mother, Crown Princess Masako, left the hospital for their royal residence.
Princess Masako, cradling the baby in her arms with a beaming Crown Prince Naruhito at her side, emerged in front of television cameras at the hospital entrance to bid farewell to doctors and nurses lined up to see the royal family off. Oblivious to the media fuss, tiny Princess Aiko lay sound asleep in her mother's arms, wrapped in a white blanket. The royal couple then travelled in a motorcade from the hospital inside the vast compounds of the imperial palace in central Tokyo to their own palace, just 15 minutes ride away.
In a sign of modern times - and in compliance with traffic law requirements - Aiko rested in an infant car seat placed between her parents on the limousine's rear seat.
Princess Masako and Prince Naruhito opened the windows of the car to smile and wave at the crowds of thousands gathered along the route of the motorcade, waving small Japanese national flags and craning for sight of the royal baby, whose birth brought some cheer to a nation stuck in recession.
``I am happy for them as they finally had a child. It's good that we had this news as it comes amid all the bad news,'' said Mr. Tsuneaki Shiroki, 29, an architect who came to see the motorcade.
Princess Masako (38), gave birth to the baby last weekend after more than eight years of marriage to Crown Prince Naruhito.
Most mothers in Japan remain in hospital for at least a week even after a routine natural birth, and Japanese media said it was the strong desire of the royal couple to return home today.
- Reuters
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