31.   According to local media reports, the royal couple had expressed a desire to stay in the mansion but the request was denied.

32.   After a farewell ceremony at the castle, the royal couple departed for London.

33.   After the audience, her lady-in-waiting Kazuko Inoue picked up the prepared notes the royal couple used to answer questions submitted in advance by journalists.

34.   After the palace announced her engagement to Naruhito almost two years ago, the Japanese media was aflutter with speculation they might be the first truly accessible royal couple.

35.   After their VIP arrival at Heathrow Airport, the royal couple rode into central London in a Rolls-Royce limousine bearing the red and yellow imperial chrysanthemum flag.

36.   Agents for Japanese-made goods took out full pages of ads in local papers to welcome the royal couple.

37.   All of this emerged later, after eavesdroppers, tattlers and disgruntled ex-servants explained why the royal couple often seemed so hostile in public.

38.   An agency spokesman, Katsuyoshi Nakamura, said the royal couple generally appear together because almost no one has invited the princess by herself.

39.   Arriving in their limousine about five minutes early, the royal couple stepped onto a red carpet Monday evening to be greeted only by two military officers.

40.   Ashizawa said the man had not had direct contact with the royal couple for more than two months.