The last Emperor of Viet-Nam was born Prince Nguyen Phuoc Vinh Thuy in the Imperial Capitol of Hue, An-Nam on October 22, 1913 to the Emperor Khai Din. On March 10, 1922 Khai Din officially declared his son heir to the throne with the title of "Dong Cung Hoang Thai Tu". On April 28, 1922 on the second day of the fourth month of the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Khai Din the nine-year-old was formally invested as the Crown Prince in an elaborate ceremony in the Palace of Supreme Peace.
Prince Vinh Thuy was sent to France to recieve his education and was still there when his father died. He was only 13-years-old when he was returned to Vietnam to be enthroned as Hoang De and Thien Tu, the august Emperor and Son of Heaven. It was the last time the ancient ritual would ever be held in the "Great South". On January 8, 1926 in the Forbidden City, with the Esplenade of Great Welcome full of kowtowing nobles and mandarins, Prince Vinh Thuy became Emperor Bao Dai of Vietnam "the Keeper of Greatness".
Still only a young man, the new monarch was sent back to France to complete his education. It was not until September 10, 1932 that the French government allowed him to return home to take up his imperial duties. Nationalistic feelings in Vietnam had been increasing and it was hoped that Emperor Bao Dai's presence would calm the people. However, the Emperor wanted independence too and was extremely frustrated when the French authorities would not follow through on their promises to support his changes. Bao Dai supported the French and asked only for limited independence, but this was denied. Additionally, his growth in France angered many of the conservatives at court who opposed his liberal changes to custom and ceremony as well as his fondness for western clothes and western sports. Although allowed little actual freedom to govern he did manage to pass some reforms with the French to improve education. He abolished the court harem, which greatly angered the dowager queens, but this was done purely as a way to counteract the political influence of the women at court, not because Bao Dai intended to be faithful to a single woman. He had picked up a taste for French girls while in Europe and was to have a succession of European and Asian mistresses before and after his marriage. In a move welcomed by liberals but opposed by traditional conservatives at court Bao Dai allowed people to stand upright in his presence, banning the old custom of the "kotow" which required one to kneel before the Emperor and bow one's forehead to the floor. He also outlawed the use of forced labor except in extreme cases of national emergency.
On March 24, 1934 Emperor Bao Dai married Jeanette Nguyen, a well-known Catholic Vietnamese lady who was renamed Hoang Hau Nam Phuong, Empress "Southern Perfume". The marriage was less than colorful though since it was a civil marriage only. The refusal of the court to allow the children of the marriage to be raised Catholic meant that a papal dispensation allowing a Church wedding was impossible. Nonetheless, despite the Emperor's very well known infidelities the marriage produced five children and the former beauty queen turned Empress remained an ever popular figure among her people. For his part, with little government work to do, the Emperor busied himself with his hunting trips, sports and building new palaces. However, an international crisis soon overshadowed the Emperor's glamorous life. World War II had already broken out in China and with conflict unavoidable in Europe, Emperor Bao Dai made new demands for more autonomy for Vietnam. The French knew he was moving towards full independence and placated him with the gift of a new private plane. After Nazi Germany conquered France in World War II the French government allowed the Japanese to occupy Vietnam.
The Japanese promised not to interfere with the court at Hue but in 1945 forced Emperor Bao Dai to declare Vietnam's independence from France as a member of Japan's "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere". The Japanese had a Vietnamese pretender, Prince Cuong De, waiting to take power in case Bao Dai refused. With American aid the communist Vietminh drove out the already defeated Japanese. Bao Dai and his government led by the Japanese friendly Prime Minister Tran Trong Kim, had been working on establishing freedom of the press and dealing with a famine in north Vietnam when the Communists occupied Hue and forced Emperor Bao Dai to abdicate in favor of their leader, the infamous Ho Chi Minh. When asked why he had abdicated Bao Dai said, "I would rather be a citizen of a free country than king of an enslaved one".
Ho Chi Minh took the Emperor, now called 'Citizen Vinh Thuy' to Hanoi as "Supreme Advisor" to the new government. Bao Dai knew the Communists were only using him for his prestige among older traditonalists as the legitimate ruler and he soon escaped to China and went into exile in Hong Kong. When the French were unsuccessful in bringing Vietnam back under colonial rule they appealed to Bao Dai to return and lead a government to oppose Ho Chi Minh. The Emperor agreed only if the French would promise him independence for Vietnam. This was done but once the Emperor was back in Saigon as Head of State the French refused to state exactly when the promised freedom would come. Bao Dai went to France and refused to leave until he was given authority to act by the French government, which never came. His popularity sank as he remained far away from his country, spending lavish sums in the casinos of Monte Carlo and visiting elite nightclubs with a succession of French courtesans. His playboy lifestyle was widely derided in Vietnam and in 1955 Bao Dai was removed from office by a referendum and replaced by his Prime Minister, Ngo Dinh Diem, who became the first President of the Republic of Vietnam. He continued to live in France until his death in a military hospital in Paris on July 30, 1997. |
