| Crown Prince Bao Long de jure Emperor of Viet Nam |
| His Imperial Highness, Crown Prince Bao Long was the hereditary ruler of the Vietnamese people for almost exactly ten years from 1997 to 2007. Although he never legally, politically reigned as emperor, according to both moral law and traditions His Highness was the 14th Son of Heaven of the Nguyen dynasty. The son and heir of His Majesty, the august Emperor Bao Dai and his primary wife Empress Nam Phuong, a southern noblewoman of the Catholic religion, Prince Bao Long became Crown Prince of Vietnam officially on March 7, 1939. This action was taken, as it had for his father, to avoid any threat of succession disputes which had occasionally troubled the Nguyen dynasty. He was raised in the traditional fashion of a Vietnamese heir to the throne until the defeat of Japan and the destruction of the Empire of Viet Nam in 1945 following the August Revolution by the communist Viet Minh. |
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| His Imperial Highness was utilized by his father to reach out to the young people with whom the Emperor always had a special bond. It was through Crown Prince Bao Long that the Imperial Family forged ties with the Scouting movement and other nationalist youth groups and organizations. When the Emperor was restored in 1948 through the help of the French he again served as the heir and deputy to his father in the building up of the government of the State of Viet Nam. In the time in between he and his siblings had accompanied their mother to safety in France where he was educated in some of the finest schools and universities and where he became, like his mother, a Roman Catholic. This was possible since, at the time, it did not seem he would ever become the Celestial Emperor. |
| With the restoration of the Emperor and the foundation of the nationalist State of Viet Nam the Crown Prince again had a part to play and he did so as best and as zealously as he could. He was the representative of the Emperor and the Nguyen Imperial dynasty at the coronation of the British Queen Elizabeth II in one of the most famous and glittering events in the modern history of monarchy and traditional authority governments. He also wanted to serve at the front with the Vietnamese National Army which was fighting alongside the French against the communist traitors in the first war in Indochina. A product of the best of the long sought Franco-Viet alliance of the worldwide French Empire he wanted to fight not only for his future throne but for a place for Viet Nam in the future world community which would assure his people beneficial trade relationships and stability. However, the Emperor felt it would be too dangerous for his son to fight in Viet Nam where the enemy would single him out for death or even moreso capture after which he could be used as a tool for propaganda. As such, he refused to give his son permission. Still zealous to serve the Franco-Viet empire he volunteered for service in the French Foreign Legion and served with distinction in the colonial war in Algeria where he was decorated for heroism. After the war and the abdication of his father in 1955 he worked in a bank in Paris, France and kept on top of issues in the Vietnamese community and events in the life of the imperial court that went into exile with his father the Emperor. He did, however, firmly refuse to recognize or have any dealings whatsoever with false or fraudulent pretenders trying to claim power or titles in the name of the Great Nguyen. On July 30, 1997 he succeeded his father as head of the Imperial dynasty and de jure Emperor of Viet Nam. He put out a video message to the Vietnamese community on this occasion in which he accepted his responsibilities as head of the imperial family and the Vietnamese community |
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