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 TOKYO (AP) - Princess Kiko entered a hospital Wednesday to prepare to give birth to the first new addition to Japan's royal family in more than four years — and possibly a badly needed heir to the ancient Chrysanthemum Throne.
The gender of the baby, whose due date is still weeks away, has not been announced. But Japan's conservative leaders are hoping for a boy and have shelved a plan that would allow the daughter of Emperor Akihito's eldest son to succeed him and become the first female to reign since the 18th century.
The 39-year-old wife of Prince Akishino — Akihito's younger son — is pregnant with her third child and is expected to give birth early next month by Caesarean section. Doctors have said she has symptoms of partial placenta previa, a condition in which part of the placenta drops too low in the uterus.
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