This file photo shows Princess Mako, right, and Kei Komuro at a press conference in Tokyo on Sept. 3, 2017. (Kyodo)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Princess Mako, a niece of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, and her boyfriend Kei Komuro will marry by the end of the year, a government source said Wednesday.

       The marriage between the couple, both 29, has been postponed for over two years following reports of trouble between his mother and her former fiance over money, including Komuro's educational expenses, which the man shouldered.

       According to the source, the Imperial Household Agency is planning to skip traditional marriage ceremonies, given the financial troubles on the Komuro family side.

       It would be very rare for a female member of the Japanese imperial family to marry without the related ritual ceremonies.

       The princess will likely decline a lump-sum payment to be offered upon her departure from the imperial family, and it is believed the couple will live in the United States once married, the source said.

       Komuro and Mako, Crown Prince Fumihito's eldest daughter, met in 2012 as students at International Christian University in Tokyo. They were unofficially engaged in September 2017.

       Komuro, who previously worked at a Tokyo law firm as a paralegal, took the New York state bar examination in July after graduating from Fordham University's law school in New York State with a Juris Doctor degree in May.

       He started studying at the law school in August 2018 after his planned marriage with Mako was abruptly delayed following reports of the financial dispute.

       The crown prince, the emperor's younger brother, has said he approves of the couple's marriage but suggested it has to be welcomed by a so-far skeptical public.

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