Empress Masako is a Harvard University alumna who also studied at the University of Oxford, serving as a career diplomat before marrying into the imperial family over 25 years ago.

The 55-year-old is the second commoner after Empress Emerita Michiko, 85, to wed a crown prince. Her time as crown princess is largely characterized by her struggles to adapt to the rigid expectations of one of the world's oldest monarchies.

Born Masako Owada in Tokyo on Dec. 9, 1963, she has two younger twin sisters and is the eldest daughter of then-diplomat Hisashi Owada, 87, a former vice foreign minister and judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.