INDOCHINE PALACE

In 1926, when Marie Therese was 12 years old, she was sent to France to study at Couvent des Oiseaux, a famous school in Paris.

Upon graduation in September 1932 she returned home excited about the future.

A year later, while visiting The Palace Hotel in Dalat, she met King Bao Dai at a party held by the Governor-General of Indochina and the manager of the hotel, Mr. Darle. King Bao Dai was immediately struck by Marie Therese’s beauty and intelligence. He quickly fell in love and wanted to marry the beautiful girl from the South. Despite his strong feelings for the young women, he knew that the Nguyen court would frown upon the marriage. After the party, he asked his mother, Queen Hoang Thi Cuc, about the beautiful girl. Bao Dai’s mother did not wish her son to wed a Catholic girl who had grown up in Paris far from Vietnamese tradition. But despite his mother’s disapproval, King Bao Dai was determined.

Two years later, on March 20^th, 1934, the two were married in the Royal city of Hue. King Bao Dai was 21 years old and Nguyen Huu Thi Lan was just 19. On March 24^th, 1934 the new Queen was consecrated in Duong Tam Temple. Being granted the title Queen of the South was an exceptional honour for the young Marie Therese, now Queen Nam Phuong, meaning “Southern Perfume”. After the wedding, King Bao Dai and Queen Nam Phuong lived in the Kien Trung Temple in the Forbidden Citadel. The couple had five children, two princes and three princesses. During her reign as Queen, Nam Phuong was known as an exemplary woman who made many positive contributions to the Nguyen Dynasty and to the development of the country.

After the Revolution in August 1945, King Bao Dai abdicated. Nam Phuong and her children moved into An Dinh Temple next to An Cuu Lake in the Hue Citadel. Although she was no longer Queen of the Nguyen Dynasty, she still continued to express her sense of responsibility to the country. As the country fell into war and communication became difficult, Queen Nam Phuong decided to leave Vietnam for Paris, where she studied as a girl.

Sadly, on September 14^th, 1963, she died alone and in exile ending a life of extreme ups and downs. She was just 49 years old. Her simple tomb is in the cemetery of Chabrignac village, France. More than four decades after her death, the legacy of Vietnam’s last Queen endures. People still remember Nam Phuong’s beauty, kindness and intelligence and made her a role model for women of Vietnam.