Since the Empress Kojun was a legitimate princess by birth (Her official court title was Princess) in the Kuninomiya family, the close associates who surrounded the Empress Teimei thought that her stern treatment toward the Empress Kojun was caused by her jealousy over the family lineage of the Empress Kojun (Although the Empress Teimei came from the Kujo family which was descended from the Gosekke [five top Fujiwara families whose members were eligible for the positions of Sessho and Kanpaku], she was not a legitimate princess by birth, but an illegitimate child.).
それは皇族久邇宮家の嫡出の王女（身位は女王）であった香淳皇后に対する家柄への妬み（貞明皇后は五摂家の九条家の出身ではあるものの、嫡出ではなく庶子である）と周囲の人間から考えられていた。