Imperial Prince Taruhito was engaged to Emperor Komei's sister, Imperial Princess Kazunomiya Chikako, in 1851 when he was seventeen years old and working as Kazunomiya's instructor in tanka (or waka) poetry; however, it was decided that Kazunomiya would marry Iemochi TOKUGAWA as part of the union of the imperial Court and the Shogunate policy, so the engagement was cancelled.
熾仁親王は嘉永4年（1851年）、17歳の時に孝明天皇の皇妹・和宮親子内親王と婚約し、和宮の歌道指南役を務めたりしたが、公武合体策の一環として和宮が徳川家茂と結婚することになり婚約は破棄された。