Empress Monique Vinh Thuy Empress Monique Vinh Thuy (aka Monique Baudot), is the French widow of the last Emperor of Vietnam, Bao Dai.
Biography
In 1969, she had worked for the Press Service at the former Embassy of Zaire and met Emperor Bao Dai in Paris, France. Bao Dai 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, becoming Bao Dai's fourth wife, and she was bestowed the title Princess. In 1972 to 1974, she and Emperor Bao Dai traveled to Hong Kong, to perform religious ceremonies, festival of Tet and Emperor's birthday.
In 1982, she travelled to the United States with Emperor Bao Dai to meet with Vietnamese supporters and also perform ceremonies.
On August 2, 1997, Emeperor Bao Dai passed away, and according to the ancestral rule, on becoming the wife of the Emperor, an Imperial Princess 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 (the mountain dwellers of North Vietnam) and the French civil and military authorities in the Principality of Andorra.
In 2003, she was met with religious and political authorities for ten days in Beriut, Lebanon.
She continues to travel and speak at conferences on the life and the work of Emperor Bao Dai.
External Links
| 
