Kei Komuro, the husband of Japanese former princess Mako Komuro, has passed his New York state bar examination on his third attempt, a source familiar with the matter said Friday.
The 31-year-old had retaken the state bar exam in July after failing on two previous attempts, once in July last year and again in February.
Komuro contacted Yoshihiko Okuno -- who runs a law firm where Komuro used to work --, on Friday afternoon to tell him the good news, according to the firm.
According to the exam's organizer, 9,609 people sat the bar exam and 6,350, or 66 percent, passed it.
Komuro began working as a law clerk at a legal firm in New York after graduating from Fordham University's law school with a Juris Doctor degree in May 2021.
He and Emperor Naruhito's 30-year-old niece have been living in the U.S. city since late 2021. They married in October that year amid public criticism over a financial dispute involving his mother and her former fiance.
A senior official of the Imperial Household Agency expressed relief upon hearing Komuro had passed, saying "It's good to hear. It is reassuring to see the foundations for (the couple's) future finally falling into place."
The 1947 Imperial House Law, which limits heirs to the imperial throne to males with an emperor in the paternal line, requires female royals to give up their status when they marry commoners.
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