Japan’s Princess Kiko gave birth to a boy early Wednesday, providing the centuries-old Chrysanthemum Throne with its first male heir in more than 40 years and defusing a looming succession crisis.
The birth came minutes after Kiko, 39, underwent a Caesarean section. The boy is the third in line to the throne, after Crown Prince Naruhito and Kiko’s husband, Prince Akishino. No name was immediately announced.
The arrival of a royal boy forestalled an eventual succession crunch for the royal family, which traces its roots back some 1,500 years. The child is Emperor Akihito’s first grandson.
The birth was also likely to quell efforts to change Japan’s male-only imperial law to allow women to ascend the throne. Several women have reigned over the years, the last being Gosakuramachi, who took the crown in 1763.
The boy, the first male heir born in Japan since Akishino in 1965, was born at 8:27 a.m. and weighed 5.64 pounds, the Imperial Household Agency said. Both child and mother were in good condition.
The birth took place under intense public attention. Kiko, who already had two daughters, was hospitalized on Aug. 16 after showing symptoms of partial placenta previa, in which part of the placenta drops too low in the uterus.
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