Monique Vinh Thuy

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Thai Phương
Empress of Vietnam

Full name	Monique Baudot
Titles	Imperial Princess Vĩnh Thụy (1972-1997) Empress Thai Phương (1997-present)
Birthplace	France
Consort	Bảo Đại, Emperor of Vietnam
Dynasty	Nguyễn Dynasty

Empress Thai Phương (born Monique Baudot, circa 1945) is the widow of the last Emperor of Vietnam, Bảo Đại.

[edit] Biography

In 1969, Monique Baudot, a French citizen who was then working in the press department of France's embassy in Zaire, met Emperor Bảo Đại in Paris, France. The former Vietnamese monarch had been sent into exile in 1945 by the French, returned to in 1949, and had been forced to abdicate in 1955.

In February 1972, in Paris, the former emperor and Baudot were married, and she was renamed Her Majesty Imperial Princess Vĩnh Thụy.

On 31 July 1997, Bảo Đại died, and according to imperial custom granting the widow of an emperor her own imperial status, Princess Vĩnh Thụy assumed the title of Empress, the name Thai Phương, and the style of Her Imperial Majesty'.[1]

The imperial family had a tradition of granting the titles of empress or queen to the wives of reigning monarchs only after the deaths of their husbands, though this rule was not followed in the case of Bảo Đại's first wife, Nam Phuong. During their lifetimes, wives of Annamese rulers were held various titles which reflected their rank in the hierarchy of concubines, from First Imperial Concubine (nhat-giai phi, the highest grade) to Junior Concubine of the 9th rank (cuu-giai tai nhan, the lowest grade). Only the mother and grandmother of the reigning monarch held the title of empress, which was granted upon their son's or grandson's ascension to the throne.[2]