Exactly, Artemisia.
The system of names of the imperial family members is actually quite confusing.
They have a given name, children of an emperor have childhood titles (as sort of a last name to be used during their childhood because the imperial family (the main branch I mean) does not have a last name). Princes who branch out will be given branch titles later, and finally the emperors and empresses are given posthumous names. Usually I try to stick to one name only – for example I use to call the father of the present emperor “Emperor Hirohito” although this is not quite correct. I should call him by his posthumous name the “Showa Emperor” but I do not want to confuse people.
I somehow feel though that I cannot call Prince Akishino “Prince Akishino” when I am talking about his childhood and youth because he received the title Prince Akishino and permission to start a new branch of the imperial family only upon his marriage on 29 June 1990. When I talk about his life before that time I could call him by his given name, Prince Fumihito (which usually do) or I could call him Prince Aya which was his childhood title. But as the concept of a childhood title would need some explanatory remarks, too, I usually stick to the given name. (Aiko, for example, has the childhood title “Princess Toshi”, her father was called “Prince Hiro” and her aunt “Princess Nori” (before her marriage). The children of Prince Akishino do not have childhood titles. They do not need them, because they are Mako of Akishino, Kako of Akishino etc.)
It is admittedly complicated. But it could be still worse.
Let´s rejoice that nowadays the imperial family members at least HAVE names and that we may use them. In former times, it was thought very impolite at Japan´s imperial court to call people by their personal names. Accordingly, translators have a very hard time translating the famous novel “The tale of Genji” as its author, noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu, never mentions the personal names of her characters.
Another problem is that naming people was considered rude in Heian court society, so none of the characters are named within the work; instead, the narrator refers to men often by their rank or their station in life, and to women often by the color of their clothing, or by the words used at a meeting, or by the rank of a prominent male relative. This results in different appellations for the same character depending on the chapter.
Wikipedia
It is easy to understand that this may cause a lot of confusion as the person who is called “the crown prince” on page 50 is not necessarily the same as the person who is called “the crown prince” on page 200. (And in case of women who are referred to by the colour of their clothing obviously things will get even worse...
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Oh my! Shades of Du Maurier's "Rebecca"!!!
In a way yes, only that in Crown Princess Michiko case it was not just the housekeeper but her mother-in-law along with her large entourage of snobbish courtiers. (On the other hand, they at least did not try to kill her as far as I am informed.)
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I don't mean to sound demeaning or patronizing to the Imperial Couple, but I must say that I find them adorable--like dolls. They're so tiny and pleasant-looking. 
