Which Vietnamese kings married French natives and had 4 children while being exiled in Africa?
The Nguyễn dynasty (1802-1945) had 3 kings who resisted the French and were later exiled, they were Hàm Nghi, Thành Thái, and Duy Tân. King Duy Tân, born Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh San in 1900, was the youngest son of King Thành Thái and Nguyễn Thị Định. At the age of 7, he was made king after King Thành Thái abdicated.
Because of his clear anti-French stance and even planning a rebellion with the Việt Nam Quang phục hội organization (although it was leaked), King Duy Tân was exiled in 1916. He and his father, King Thành Thái, were sent to the Réunion island in Africa.
The people allowed to accompany King Duy Tân in his exile were his mother Nguyễn Thị Định, his concubine Mai Thị Vàng, and his half-sister Mệ Cưỡi. Due to the unsuitable climate on the island, concubine Mai Thị Vàng had a miscarriage and was unable to have more children. King Duy Tân advised her to return to their homeland to preserve the bloodline.
In 1921, Mai Thị Vàng returned to Vietnam and lived alone until the end of her life. Six years later, King Duy Tân married a young girl named Fernande Antier, who was of French descent, and they had a princess named Rita Suzy Georges Vĩnh San and three princes named Guy Georges Vĩnh San, Yves Claude Vĩnh San, and Joseph Roger Vĩnh San.
Who betrayed King Duy Tân and caused him to be captured by the French?
According to the book “Kể chuyện các đời vua Nguyễn” (Telling the Stories of the Nguyễn Kings), at 11 o’clock on the night of May 2, 1916, King Duy Tân wrapped a scarf around his head, wore a dark red tunic and white trousers, and secretly left the palace for the Thương Bạc harbor. Tran Cao Van’s boat was waiting at the Thương Bạc harbor to take the king and his entourage to Hà Trung village, where they would wait for the signal to start the uprising in Huế. However, they waited from 1 o’clock to 3 o’clock in the morning without any sign…The plan for the rebellion had been exposed because there was a traitor in the organization who had informed the Embassy.
The French Ambassador Charles ordered an immediate crackdown on the uprising, with French soldiers patrolling the streets of Huế and other provinces. However, the royal court was unaware of this.
Upon learning that their plan for the uprising had been compromised, Tran Cao Van and Thái Phiên decided to take the king out of Hà Trung village by using a mountainous route to reach the predetermined location in Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi, where they could make further decisions… However, before they could move far, while they were still resting at Vo Dinh Co’s house in Ngu Tay hamlet, An Cuu commune, Thừa Thiên-Huế, the Embassy’s Prosecutor-General Le Folt, along with the Chief Spy of Central Vietnam Sogny, led soldiers to capture King Duy Tân and the officials Tran Cao Van, Thái Phiên, Tôn Thất Đề, Nguyễn Quang Siêu…
Initially, the Embassy’s Prosecutor-General Le Folt pleaded and invited the king to return to the palace, but King Duy Tân firmly refused. On the second attempt, Le Folt continued, to which the king replied: If you want to use force to capture me, then go ahead, but I will never return. Le Folt then arrested the king and took him back to the Huế Embassy. Here, Ambassador Charles smiled triumphantly, shook hands with King Duy Tân, and mocked him:
– Are you satisfied with the journey, Your Majesty?
King Duy Tân calmly replied in French: No, because it was not successful!
The French Ambassador was unable to convince King Duy Tân to return to the throne, so he had to send a telegram to Hanoi to seek the opinion of the Governor-General. The Governor-General flew to Huế to meet the king and tried to persuade him. King Duy Tân replied:
– If you want me to be the king of South Vietnam, then treat me as a mature king with the freedom to act, especially the freedom to exchange information and opinions with the French government.
Unable to meet King Duy Tân’s demands, the Governor-General ordered the Ambassador to temporarily detain the king at the Mang Cá prison. The Southern Court was given one week to persuade the king. If unsuccessful, they would be tried for rebellion.
– Regarding King Duy Tân: Listening to flattery shakes the foundation of the country in a dangerous way… Regarding the 4 apprehended intellectuals: First, they released a statement at Hậu Lake, then wrote a petition at the monastery, boarded a boat at Thương Bạc, escorted the king to have plain rice in Hà Trung village, chicken porridge in Ngự Phong mountain, suffering from hardships, and all these misfortunes were caused by these individuals…
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