Monique Vinh Thuy
 |
Empress Monique Vĩnh Thụy |
Empress
Monique Vĩnh Thụy (born
Monique Baudot), is the
French widow of the last Emperor of
Vietnam,
Bảo Đại.
In
1969, she worked for the Press Service at the former
Embassy of
Zaire and met Emperor Bảo Đại in
Paris, France. Bảo Đại had been exiled there from Vietnam in
1954 due to trouble in his country, and had been forced to abdicate in
1955.
In
1972, they were married in Paris. She became Bảo Đại's fourth wife, and was granted the title Princess. In
1972 to
1974, she and Emperor Bảo Đại traveled to
Hong Kong, to perform religious ceremonies on the festival of and the Emperor's birthday.
In
1982, she traveled to the
United States with Emperor Bảo Đại to meet with Vietnamese supporters and also perform ceremonies.
On
31 July 1997, Emperor Bảo Đại died, and according to the ancestral rule, she assumed the title of
Empress. Traditionally, the wife of an Emperor of Vietnam is addressed as Imperial Princess during his lifetime, and becomes Empress only on the death of the Emperor.
In
1999, she was invited by the Vietnamese community and regional authorities of
Languedoc-Roussillon.
In
2002, she was invited by the
Muong community (a people related to the Vietnamese from the mountain/hills dwellers of northern Vietnam) and the French civil and military authorities in the Principality of
Andorra.
In
2003, she met with religious and political authorities for ten days in
Beirut,
Lebanon.
She continues to travel and speak at conferences on the life and the work of Emperor Bảo Đại.
*
Emperor Bao Dai and Princess Monique Vinh Thuy visit Thiên-Lý Bửu-Tòa Cao Dai Temple Dec. 2, 1982 at San Martin, California *
Princess Monique Vinh Thuy Interview French*
Princess Monique Vinh Thuy Interview English*
Emperor Bao Dai and Empress Monique Vinh Thuy meet supporters in France French
