Japan's Princess Yoko Hospitalized After Pneumonia Flare Up Amid COVID-19 Battle

In the latest news where a member of a royal family found themselves diagnosed with the sickness, Japan’s Princess Yoko has been hospitalized on Tuesday, Feb. 8, due to complications relating to COVID-19.

Princess Yoko was reported to have felt ill, with a sore throat on Monday, which prompted the test that confirmed the positive diagnosis. She was kept in a hospital inside the Imperial Palace, but was transferred to the University of Tokyo Hospital after her condition worsened, Vanity Fair reported.

She is reported to have contracted pneumonia before being transferred to the University of Tokyo Hospital. Princess Akiko, her older sister, was tested to see if she also contracted the virus, but the test ended up coming back negative, according to People.

None of her staff from her household or her social organization Yuai Jujikai, or any other member of the royal family appears to have contracted the virus as of press time.

It is unclear how Princess Yoko has contracted the virus; however, she was last seen in public at an event commemorating the death of Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace on Jan. 30, though it is still unknown if she was able to contract the virus from there.

Princess Yoko is the daughter of Prince Tomohito, who is the youngest brother of Emperor Hirohito and a first cousin of Emperor Akihito. Neither Yoko nor Akiko married, which allows them to keep their royal titles, which are typically given up as the women married.

Among the controversies of the past few years was when Mako Komura gave up her princess title and moved to New York to marry a commoner, causing a media frenzy in regards to her choice of husband.

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, Princess Yoko is the most recent member of a nation’s royal family to contract the COVID-19 virus. Among others who have done so are Prince Charles and his wife Camila, Spain’s King Felipe IV, and Queen Margrethe of Denmark.