Wearing a simple white dress and pearls, Japan’s Princess Sayako bid farewell to palace life today to wed a Tokyo city employee in a low-key ceremony, marking the first time that an emperor’s daughter had married a 'commoner'.

After years of disappointing speculation about suitors, the engagement of Princess Sayako to a Tokyo city bureaucrat, a commoner, became official today with an announcement by Japan’s Imperial Household Agency.

IRISHMAN Dr Barry McSweeney who heads up Europe’s major research centre has been honoured for his work in opening up the institution to the new EU countries.