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Cross-country drive on 2 gallons of gas
TOKYO, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Speculation ran high across Japan Monday that Princess Kiko will have a male heir to the throne by a Caesarean section this week.
Officials with the Imperial Household Agency have repeatedly said no one knows the gender of the child the princess is carrying, but political moves to allow a woman to reign were dropped during the pregnancy, a Times of London correspondent reports from Tokyo.
The lineage dilemma began in 1993 when an Oxford-educated career diplomat married Emperor Akihito's oldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, and became Princess Masako" class="tpstyle">Crown Princess Masako. Their daughter Aiko was born in 2001. The Crown Prince's 40-year-old younger brother, Akishino, is next in line, but both of his children also are girls.
However, a source close to the palace told the Times the birth of a son on Wednesday would not end problems for the 2,000-year-old Chrysanthemum throne.
"Even if it is a boy, he would end up being the only (male) member of the Imperial Family, and that would be intolerable," the source said. "To put it very bluntly, you need to have reserves."
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