The unprecedented wedding ceremony in the royal court of King Bao Dai and Queen Nam Phuong

Unable to convince Bao Dai, the court and Empress Dowager Tu Cung had to accept and agree to let Bao Dai marry Nguyen Huu Hao's daughter.

The wedding took place on March 20, 1934. That year, Bao Dai was 21 years old, and Nguyen Huu Thi Lan was 20 years old. In the royal court at that time, only Mr. Nguyen Huu Bai, Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and Director of the Privy Council, agreed with the king because he was also a Catholic.

And also because of disagreements in the royal court and the royal family, the wedding had some problems when the bride was brought home. According to a witness at that time, veteran journalist Hoang Pho, before the wedding took place, an intimate party was held at Nguyen Huu Hao's villa with the participation of about ten people. During the party, Ms. Nguyen Huu Thi Lan offered wine and cakes to each person.

A few days later, the wedding procession brought the Emperor's bride to Hai Van Pass. The mandarins from Hue came to welcome her, but there weren't many people. The newspapers at that time said that the reason the groom's family (Royal family) only had a few people go to Hai Van Pass to welcome the bride's family was because no one in the Royal family wanted to go pick up the bride, so it was delayed a day, forcing the bride's family to wait in the middle of Hai Van Pass. Then the two families met in the middle of the pass and the procession merged to head straight to Hue. Arriving in Hue, the bride's family was invited to stay in Tru Tat Palace to wait until March 20 to hold the wedding ceremony.

Queen Nam Phuong in royal ceremonial dress.

The spring rainy morning was beautiful, the wedding was held. At Tru Tat palace, Nguyen Huu Thi Lan wore a red brocade tunic embroidered with gold, a blue turban wrapped in many circles, next to Thi Lan was her older sister who was already married - a French military officer. The two of them got into the car to go to the Imperial Palace, where Bao Dai was waiting for the bride to arrive to perform the wedding ceremony to present to the Royal family, the court officials and the French Resident.

Also according to Bao Dai's memoir Le Dragon d'Annam (The Dragon of Annam):

“The wedding was held in the presence of the court and representatives of France. This was an innovative wedding, never before seen in the royal court. I also decided that after the wedding, I would crown my wife as Empress - a title that had previously only been given to the empress dowager after the emperor's death.”

Four days later, the wedding ceremony ended and Nguyen Huu Thi Lan was declared Queen by Bao Dai, given the title Nam Phuong.

On February 10 (March 24, 1934), the coronation ceremony for the queen was held solemnly at Duong Tam Palace. And the king issued a royal decree to confer on the queen the title of Queen Nam Phuong. Bao Dai further explained in his memoirs about the two words “Nam Phuong” as follows:

“I chose a reign name for the new empress, from then on Nam Phuong – Nam Phuong means perfume. And, I issued a special edict allowing her to wear yellow – the color reserved for the Emperor.”

Of course, what we need to know most is how the wedding took place? Bao Dai did not forget this and he recounted it as follows:

“The wedding ceremony was held right in the reception room of Can Chanh Palace. Just like the coronation ceremony, the courtiers stood in line along a red and gold carpet reserved for the Emperor. For the first time in the history of the Nguyen Dynasty, a woman appeared in the royal court.

Nam Phuong wore a loose-fitting dress, curved-toe shoes, and a crown studded with sparkling gold and jewels. She walked alone to the center of the carpet, and all the courtiers bowed to her. With a stunning beauty, she went straight into the great rooms, where I was sitting on a low throne waiting for her. She came and stood before me, bowed to me three times, and then sat in the wing to my right.

The brief ceremony ended. The Queen was by my side. We walked side by side to the sound of celebratory music, through the Forbidden City to the Jianzhong Palace - our main residence and workplace.”

Regarding this marriage, in 1983, Mr. Pham Khac Hoe, former Imperial Court Office Director of Bao Dai, wrote in his memoir From the Hue Court to the Viet Bac War Zone a passage about Bao Dai's marriage as follows:

“… In the marriage between Bao Dai and Nguyen Huu Thi Lan, reason was much more important than emotion. Miss Lan married Bao Dai mainly to become Queen, Bao Dai married Miss Lan mainly to dig for gold. In terms of emotion, if there was any, it was only superficial: both of them were healthy, loved sports and were used to a Western lifestyle. As for temperament and thoughts, they were almost opposites.

Bao Dai was shallow, naive, weak, and preferred pleasures to power. He could reform but was easily taken advantage of by opportunists. On the contrary, Nam Phuong was a discreet, calm, profound person with personality and a thoughtful mind. He preferred reading and research to pleasures… he preferred power and had many political ambitions!

Many people believe that the marriage between King Bao Dai and Queen Nam Phuong was more rational than emotional.

Nam Phuong's ambition was that when she had a son, she would appoint him as Crown Prince to succeed to the throne and the power would be held by the Queen Mother, Nam Phuong, "showing her talent", pleasing the motherland France, pleasing the Holy See, which always expected that the future Vietnam would have a Catholic king. And although, when Charles and his wife wrote a letter asking the Holy See for permission for Nam Phuong to marry Bao Dai and each to keep their own religion, Pope Pius XI did not accept. It was too late, so Bao Dai's wedding with Thi Lan still went ahead.

Therefore, the Pope excommunicated Nam Phuong and prevented her from confessing and receiving communion as before she married Bao Dai. After the wedding, Bao Dai listened to Charles and his wife's advice to give medals to several French and Italian Bishops and the Apostolic Nuncio in Hue to please the Holy See, so that in the future the Holy See would forgive Nam Phuong's censure.

And it was true. When Pope Pius XI died on February 10, 1939, and on March 2, 1939, Pope Pius XII succeeded him, so he reconsidered and accepted Bao Dai to keep Buddhism, and Nam Phuong to keep Catholicism, but the children when born had to be baptized to become Catholics following their mother, Mrs. Nam Phuong. Therefore, after that, Bao Dai and Nam Phuong went to Rome to ask for an audience to thank Pope Pius XII.

Later, someone asked Mrs. Nam Phuong why she married a king who was not of the same religion, was a debauched man, and then had five wives and seven concubines, no less than the previous emperors. Mrs. Nam Phuong replied: "This was decided by God, how can I say anything?"