:Bảo Đại

Bảo Đại was born on 22 October 1913 and given the name of Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy in the Palace of Doan-Trang-Vien, part of the compound of the Purple Forbidden City in Huế, the former capital of Vietnam. He was later given the name Nguyễn Vĩnh Thụy. His father was Emperor Khải Định of Annam. His mother was the emperor's second wife, Tu Cung, who was renamed 'Doan Huy' upon her marriage. She held various titles over the years that indicated her advancing rank as a favored consort until she eventually became Empress Dowager in 1933. Vietnam had been ruled from Huế by the Nguyễn dynasty since 1802. The French government, which took control of the region in the late 19th century, split Vietnam into three areas: the protectorates of Annam and Tonkin and the colony of Cochinchina. The Nguyễn dynasty was given nominal rule of Annam.{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}}

At the age of nine, Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thụy was sent to France to study at the Lycée Condorcet and, later, the Paris Institute of Political Studies. He became emperor on 8 January 1926, after his father's death, and took the era name Bảo Đại ("Protector of Grandeur" or "Keeper of Greatness").{{cite journal |last1=Chapman |first1=Jessica M. |title=Staging democracy: South Vietnam's 1955 referendum to depose Bao Dai |journal=Diplomatic History |date=September 2006 |volume=30 |issue=4 |page=687|doi=10.1111/j.1467-7709.2006.00573.x |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/629724zz }}{{cite book |author1=Currey, Cecil B. |author-link1=Bao Dai |editor1-last=Tucker |editor1-first=Spencer C. |title=The encyclopedia of the Vietnam War : a political, social, and military history |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaviet00tuck |url-access=limited |date=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, CA |isbn=9781851099610 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaviet00tuck/page/n141 94]-95 |edition=2nd}} He did not yet ascend to the throne and returned to France to continue his studies.

File:Bao Dai nho.jpg|Young crown prince Vĩnh Thụy.

File:Young emperor.jpg|Young emperor.

File:Baodai.jpg|Emperor Bảo Đại.

File:Coronation of Bao Dai.jpg|Bao Dai in coronation date, 8/1/1926.

On 20 March 1934, age 20, at the imperial city of Huế, Bảo Đại married Marie-Thérèse Nguyễn Hữu Thị Lan (died 15 September 1963, Chabrignac, France), a commoner from a wealthy Vietnamese Catholic family. After the wedding, she was given the title Empress Nam Phương.

The couple had five children, two sons and three daughters:

• Crown Prince Bảo Long (4 January 1936 – 28 July 2007)
• Princess Phương Mai (1 August 1937 – 16 January 2021)
• Princess Phương Liên (born 3 November 1938)
• Princess Phương Dung (born 5 February 1942)
• Prince Bảo Thăng (9 December 1943 – 15 March 2017).

Although Bảo Đại later had additional children with other women, these are the only ones listed in the clan genealogy.

File:Thứ-phi-Mộng-Điệp.jpg|Lady Mộng Điệp

File:Cuoc-doi-va-tinh-su-vua-bao-dai-12.jpg|Bao Dai and Lady Mộng Điệp

Nam Phương was granted the title of empress in 1945. By one count, Bảo Đại had relationships with eight women and fathered 13 children. Those named "Phương" are daughters, while those named "Bảo" are sons.Viet, Dan, "[https://nghethuatxua.com/vua-ba%CC%89o-da%CC%A3i-co-bao-nhieu-vo%CC%A3-con/ vua Bảo Dại co bao nhieu vọ con?]," Nghệ Thuật Xưa

{{main|Empire of Vietnam|Abdication of Bảo Đại}}

In 1940, during the second World War, coinciding with their ally Nazi Germany's invasion of France, Imperial Japan took over French Indochina. While they did not eject the French colonial administration, the occupation authorities directed policy from behind the scenes in a parallel of Vichy France.

The Japanese promised not to interfere with the court at Huế, but in 1945, after ousting the French, coerced Bảo Đại into declaring Vietnamese independence from France as a member of Japan's "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere"; the country then became the Empire of Vietnam.

Bảo Đại, however, appeared to believe that independence was an irreversible course. In 1944, he wrote to General de Gaulle, leader of the Free French:

{{blockquote|You have suffered too much during four deadly years, not to understand that the Vietnamese people, who have a history of twenty centuries and an often glorious past, no longer wish, no longer can support any foreign domination or foreign administration...You could understand even better if you were able to see what is happening here, if you were able to sense the desire for independence that has been smoldering in the bottom of all hearts and which no human force can any longer hold back. Even if you were to arrive to re-establish a French administration here, it would no longer be obeyed; each village would be a nest of resistance. every former friend an enemy, and your officials and colonials themselves would ask to depart from this unbreathable atmosphere.{{Cite book |last=McAlister |first=John T. |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD0680211.pdf |title=Vietnam, the Origins of the Revolution (1885-1946) |publisher=American University, Center for Research in Social Systems |year=1968 |location=Washington, DC |pages=88}}}}

The Japanese had a Vietnamese pretender, Prince Cường Để, waiting to take power in case the new emperor's "elimination" was required. Japan surrendered to the Allies in August 1945, and the Viet Minh (under the leadership of communist Hồ Chí Minh) aimed to take power in a free Vietnam. Due to his popular political stand against the French and the 1945 famine, Hồ was able to persuade Bảo Đại to abdicate on 25 August 1945, handing power over to the Việt Minh – an event which greatly enhanced Hồ's legitimacy in the eyes of the Vietnamese people.Stanley Karnow, Vietnam: A History p162 "Nothing has reinforced the Vietminh cause more than the mercurial Bao Dai's decision to abdicate. For his gesture conferred the 'mandate of heaven' on Ho, giving him the legitimacy that, in Vietnamese eyes, had traditionally resided in the emperor." Bảo Đại was appointed the "supreme advisor" to Hồ's Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in Hanoi, which declared its independence on 2 September 1945. The DRV was then ousted by the newly formed French Fourth Republic in November 1946.David G. Marr Vietnam: State, War, Revolution, 1945–1946 p20 "The royal mandarinal hierarchies for education, administration, and justice were abolished, while Mr. Vĩnh Thụy (formerly Emperor Bảo Đại) was appointed advisor to the DRV provisional government."

File:Đế-quốc Việt-Nam tuyên-bố độc-lập, 1945.jpg|Declaration of Empire of Vietnam in 1945

File:Lâm-thời Liên-hiệp Chính-phủ Việt-nam Dân-chủ Cộng-hòa ra mắt Quốc-hội ngày 02 tháng 03 năm 1946.jpg|The National assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on 2 March 1946, supreme advisor Vĩnh Thụy (Bảo Đại), sixth from right to left, next to President Hồ Chí Minh (middle).

File:Bao Dai and Ho Chi Minh.jpg|Bảo Đại (right) as the "supreme advisor" to the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam led by president Hồ Chí Minh (left), September 1945

File:Members of Vietnamese Government at the Independent Holliday Celebration in Hanoi 1946.jpg|Members of national assembly of Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Bảo Đại (far right).

File:Flag of Bao Dai (1948-1955).svg

{{main|State of Vietnam|First Indochina War}}

Bảo Đại spent nearly a year as "supreme advisor" to the DRV, during which period Vietnam descended into armed conflict between rival Vietnamese factions and the French. He left this post in 1946 after communists abandoned him in China. He moved to Hong Kong, where the French and Việt Minh both attempted unsuccessfully to solicit him for political support.{{Cite book|last=United States. Department of Defense|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/643945604|title=The Pentagon papers : the Defense Department history of United States decisionmaking on Vietnam / 1.|date=1971|publisher=Beacon Pr|others=Mike Gravel|isbn=0-8070-0527-4|volume=1|location=Boston|oclc=643945604}}

File:Bảo Đại returns to Vietnam postcard - French Indo-China (1949).jpg

Eventually a coalition of Vietnamese anti-communists (including future South Vietnamese leader Ngô Đình Diệm and members of political/religious groups such as the Cao Dai, Hòa Hảo, and VNQDĐ) formed a National Union and declared to support Bảo Đại on the condition he would seek independence for Vietnam. This persuaded him to reject Việt Minh overtures and enter into negotiations with the French. On 7 December 1947, Bảo Đại officially signed the first of the Ha Long Bay Accords with France. Despite ostensibly committing France to Vietnamese independence, it was considered minimally binding and transferred no actual authority to Vietnam. The agreement was promptly criticized by National Union members, including Diệm. In a possible attempt to escape the resulting political tension, Bảo Đại travelled to Europe and commenced on a four-month pleasure tour which earned him the sobriquet "night club emperor". After persistent efforts by the French, Bảo Đại was persuaded to return from Europe and sign a second Ha Long Bay Agreement on 5 June 1948. This contained similarly weak promises for Vietnamese independence and had as little success as the first agreement. Bảo Đại once again travelled to Europe whilst warfare in Vietnam continued to escalate.

After months of negotiations with French President Vincent Auriol, he finally signed the Élysée Accords on 8 March 1949, which led to the establishment of the State of Vietnam with Bảo Đại becoming the Chief of State (國長, Quốc trưởng) on 14 June 1949; the French also oversaw the creation of the Domain of the Crown where he was still officially considered to be the Emperor, this territory existed until 1955.

However, the country was still only partially autonomous, with France initially retaining effective control of the army and foreign relations. Bảo Đại himself stated in 1950: "What they call a Bảo Đại solution turned out to be just a French solution... the situation in Indochina is getting worse every day".

As Diệm and other hardcore nationalists were disappointed in the lack of autonomy and refused high government posts, Bảo Đại mainly filled his government with wealthy figures strongly connected to France. He then spent his own time in the resort towns of Da Lat, Nha Trang, and Buôn Ma Thuột, largely avoiding the process of governing. All this contributed to his reputation as a French puppet and a rise in popular support for the Việt Minh, whose armed insurgency against the French-backed regime was developing into a full-fledged civil war. Nonetheless, in 1950 he attended a series of conferences in Pau, France where he pressed the French for further independence. The French granted some minor concessions to the Vietnamese, which caused a mixed reaction on both sides.

In addition to the increasing unpopularity of the Bảo Đại government, the communist victory in China in 1949 also led to a further revival of the fortunes of the Việt Minh. When China and the Soviet Union recognized the DRV government, the United States reacted by extending diplomatic recognition to Bảo Đại's government in March 1950. This and the outbreak of the Korean War in June led to U.S. military aid and active support of the French war effort in Indochina, now seen as anti-communist rather than colonialist. Despite this, the war between the French colonial forces and the Việt Minh started to go badly for the French, culminating in a major victory for the Việt Minh at Điện Biên Phủ. This led to the negotiating of a peace deal between the French and the Việt Minh on 21 July 1954, known as the Geneva Accords, which partitioned Vietnam at the 17th parallel. The north side was given to the DRV, with the State of Vietnam receiving the south. Before that, the State of Vietnam gained complete independence from France on June 4. Bảo Đại remained "Head of State" of South Vietnam, but moved to Paris and appointed Ngô Đình Diệm as his prime minister.{{cite video | title = Interview with Ngô Đình Luyến | url = http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/vietnam-0c7985-interview-with-ngo-dinh-luyen | date = 31 January 1979 | publisher = WGBH Media Library and Archives }}

{{main|1955 State of Vietnam referendum}}

At first, Ngô Đình Diệm exercised no influence over South Vietnam: the Việt Minh still had de facto control of somewhere between sixty and ninety percent of the countryside (by French estimates), whilst the rest was dominated by the various religious sects. Meanwhile, the new capital of Saigon was under the total control of criminal group Bình Xuyên. According to Colonel Lansdale, it had paid Bảo Đại a "staggering sum" for control of local prostitution and gambling and of Saigon's police force.

Regardless, Diệm's forces embarked on a campaign against the Bình Xuyên, with fighting breaking out in the streets on 29 March 1955. In an attempt to protect his clients, Bảo Đại ordered Diệm to travel to France, but he was disobeyed and Diệm eventually succeeded in pushing his opponents out of the city. Using a divide and conquer strategy, Diệm then employed a mixture of force and bribery to sway the remaining religious sects to his side.

File:903aafd6079a3ed1 landing.jpg|Bao Dai deposed as Chief of State in Vietnam's national assembly, Saigon, 1955

Now with a broad range of support, a new Popular Revolutionary Committee (formed by Diệm's brother Ngô Đình Nhu) was able to call for a referendum to remove Bảo Đại and establish a republic with Diệm as president. The campaign leading up to the referendum was punctuated by personal attacks against the former emperor, whose supporters had no way to refute them since campaigning for Bảo Đại was forbidden.

The referendum was criticized as being fraudulent. The official results showed a tally of 98.9% in favor of a republic, with the number of votes for a republic exceeding the total number of registered voters by 155,025 in Saigon, while the total number of votes exceeded the total number of registered voters by 449,084, and the number of votes for a republic exceeded the total number of registered voters by 386,067.[http://www.sudd.ch/event.php?lang=en&id=vn011955 Direct Democracy]

Bảo Đại was removed from power, with Diệm declaring himself president of the new Republic of Vietnam on 26 October 1955.

In 1957, during his visit to Alsace region, he met Christiane Bloch-Carcenac with whom he had an affair for several years. The relationship with Bloch-Carcenac resulted in the birth of his last child, Patrick-Édouard Bloch-Carcenac, who still lives in Alsace in France.oral communication (Patrick-Edward Bloch-Carcenac) and sections of the "Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace" (D.N.A), n°. 264 of 10 November 1992 and from 7 August 2007.{{cite web|url=http://www.maguytran-pinterville.com/vietnam/renaissance-de-hue/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320190704/https://www.maguytran-pinterville.com/vietnam/renaissance-de-hue/|archive-date=20 March 2015|title=RENAISSANCE DE HUE – Site de maguy tran – pinterville|language=fr}}{{when|date=June 2024}}

In 1972, Bảo Đại issued a public statement from exile, appealing to the Vietnamese people for national reconciliation, stating, "The time has come to put an end to the fratricidal war and to recover at last peace and accord". At times, Bảo Đại maintained residence in southern France, and in particular, in Monaco, where he sailed often on his private yacht, one of the largest in Monte Carlo harbor. He still reportedly held great influence among local political figures in the Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên provinces of Huế. The Communist government of North Vietnam sent representatives to France hoping that Bảo Đại would become a member of a coalition government which might reunite Vietnam under communism, in the hope of attracting his supporters in the regions wherein he still held influence. {{Citation needed|date=January 2012}}

As a result of these meetings, Bảo Đại publicly spoke out against the presence of American troops in South Vietnam, and he criticized President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu's regime in South Vietnam. He called for all political factions to create a free, neutral, peace-loving government which would resolve the tense situation that had taken form in the country.

In 1982, Bảo Đại, his wife Monique, and other members of the former imperial family of Vietnam visited the United States. His agenda was to oversee and bless Buddhist and Caodaist religious ceremonies, in the California and Texas Vietnamese American communities. In this visit, he became an honorary citizen of the city of Westminster in the United States.https://nld.com.vn/thoi-su-trong-nuoc/cuu-hoang-bao-dai-va-nguoi-vo-cuoi-cung-107118.htm

In 1988, Bảo Đại was baptised in France as Roman Catholic.{{Cite news |last=Pearson |first=Richard |date=1997-08-02 |title=BAO DAI, FORMER EMPEROR OF VIETNAM, DIES |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1997/08/02/bao-dai-former-emperor-of-vietnam-dies/1c39734a-4125-47ee-bc87-bbf501c4c31b/ |access-date=2024-01-08 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |quote=During his years in French exile, Bao Dai converted from Buddhism to Roman Catholicism and lost the greater part of his fortune.}}{{Cite news |last=de Rochebouët |first=Béatrice |date=2022-10-28 |title=Enchères: sous le sceau du dernier empereur du Vietnam |trans-title=Auction: under the seal of the last emperor of Vietnam |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/encheres/encheres-sous-le-sceau-du-dernier-empereur-du-vietnam-20221028 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230825034622/https://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/encheres/encheres-sous-le-sceau-du-dernier-empereur-du-vietnam-20221028 |archive-date=2023-08-25 |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=Le Figaro |language=fr |quote=Et, sur son initiative, reçut en 1988 le baptême catholique. |trans-quote=And, on his initiative, he received Catholic baptism in 1988.}}{{Cite web |title=BẢO ĐẠI (NGUYỄN PHÚC VĨNH THỤY, JEAN-ROBERT, 1913–1997) |url=https://indochine.uqam.ca/fr/le-dictionnaire/106-bo-i-nguyn-phuc-vnh-thy-jean-robert-19131997.html |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=indochine.uqam.ca |publisher=University of Quebec in Montreal |quote=The former emperor died there, after having remarried a French woman in 1972 and converted to Catholicism in 1988.}}

Throughout Bảo Đại's life in both Vietnam and in France, he remained unpopular among the Vietnamese populace as he was considered a political puppet for the French colonialist regime, for lacking any form of political power, and for his cooperation with the French and for his pro-French ideals. The former emperor clarified, however, that his reign was always a constant battle and a balance between preserving the monarchy and the integrity of the nation versus fealty to the French authorities. Ultimately, power devolved away from his person and into ideological camps and in the face of Diem's underestimated influences on factions within the empire.{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ALp3JfHefG8C&pg=PA111 | title = A Special Relationship: The United States and Military Government in Thailand, 1947–1958 | author = D. Fineman | publisher = University of Hawaii Press | year = 1997 | isbn = 9780824818180 | page = 111 }}

File:Mo cuu hoang Bao Dai.jpg, Paris]]

Bảo Đại died at Val-de-Grâce, a military hospital in Paris, on 30 July 1997. He was interred in the Cimetière de Passy.

The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) considered him to be a traitor. After he was once again helped by France as the Head of State of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh said in an interview with Chinese media: "Vĩnh Thụy brought the French invading army back to Vietnam and killed more compatriots. Vĩnh Thụy is a true traitor. The French colonists conspired to restore slavery in Vietnam. Vĩnh Thụy is the confidant of the colonists. Although Vietnamese law is very tolerant to those who have lost their way, they will severely punish the traitorous orphans. The Vietnamese people are determined to defeat all colonial conspiracies and fight for true independence and reunification."{{Cite web |last=Trang |first=Tâm |date=2013-07-04 |title=Những cuộc trả lời phỏng vấn báo chí của Bác Hồ (Phần 4) |url=https://bqllang.gov.vn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1388:nh-ng-cu-c-tr-l-i-ph-ng-v-n-bao-chi-c-a-bac-h-ph-n-4&catid=99&Itemid=743&lang=vi |access-date=2024-05-29 |website=Trang tin điện tử Ban quản lý lăng Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh |language=vi-vn}}[http://www.cpv.org.vn/cpv/Modules/News/NewsDetail.aspx?co_id=0&cn_id=29641 Trả lời điện phỏng vấn của Dân quốc nhật báo (1949)(1), Hồ Chí Minh toàn tập, Tập 5 (1947–1949)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208113318/http://www.cpv.org.vn/cpv/Modules/News/NewsDetail.aspx?co_id=0&cn_id=29641 |date=8 December 2015 }}, Nhà Xuất bản Sự thật, Hà Nội, 1985, trang 211, 212.

On one hand, Bảo Đại remains a highly discussed figure. The CPV labels him a traitor, but does not treat him as harshly as subsequent leaders of the later South Vietnam; his role continues to be studied, ranging from a somewhat sympathetic figure to the Việt Minh to a moderate figure who tried to avoid war, given Bảo Đại himself agreed to abdicate in 1945 to give power for the Việt Minh.{{Cite web |title=Chính phủ cách mạng lâm thời tiếp nhận sự thoái vị của Bảo Đại |url=https://dangcongsan.vn/tu-lieu-tham-khao-cuoc-thi-trac-nghiem-tim-hieu-90-nam-lich-su-ve-vang-cua-dang-cong-san-viet-nam/tu-lieu-cuoc-thi/chinh-phu-cach-mang-lam-thoi-tiep-nhan-su-thoai-vi-cua-bao-dai-535104.html |access-date=2024-05-29 |website= |language=en-US}}

Most Overseas Vietnamese, who are ardently anti-communist, didn't consider Bảo Đại positively, partly due to his weak-willed reputation and inability to confront with the communist threat, as well as his reclusive life and his perceived cowardice.{{Cite web |last= |date=2022-10-28 |title=Kiến nghị đòi lại ấn "Kim Bảo Tỷ" và kiếm "Khải Định Niên Chế" cho Nhà nước Việt Nam {{!}} Tiếng Dân |url=https://baotiengdan.com/2022/10/28/kien-nghi-doi-lai-an-kim-bao-ty-va-kiem-khai-dinh-nien-che-cho-nha-nuoc-viet-nam/ |access-date=2024-05-29 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2017-10-23 |title=Tạp chí Việt Nam - Bảo Đại : Từ hoàng đế Việt "lực bất tòng tâm" đến "thường dân" Pháp |url=https://www.rfi.fr/vi/viet-nam/20171023-bao-dai-tu-hoang-de-viet-luc-bat-tong-tam-den-thuong-dan-phap |access-date=2024-05-29 |website=RFI |language=vi}} His role is also studied by the diaspora, although recent studies had questioned the perception due to perceived bias by both the Vietnamese diaspora and the CPV.{{Cite news |title=Vua Bảo Đại và kết cục buồn cho Việt Nam |url=https://www.bbc.com/vietnamese/forum-56405194 |access-date=2024-05-29 |work=BBC News Tiếng Việt |language=vi}}

File:Vinh-thuy-bao-dai-1-.jpg|Crown Prince Vĩnh Thụy in 1920

File:Bao Dai & mom.jpg|Bao Dai & his mother

File:PV0040892 Fêtes du quarantenaire de S.M. Khai-Dinh.jpg|Young prince Vinh Thuy (2nd right to left) in 40th birthday anniversary of emperor Khai Định

File:Young prince Vinh Thuy.jpg|Young crown prince Vĩnh Thụy (right) boarding the Azay-le-Rideau steamer bound for Marseille, to study in France,1922.

File:Le jeune Empereur d'Annam Bao (...)Agence de btv1b9025201h 1.jpg|Crown prince Vĩnh Thụy (right) and his cousin Vĩnh Cẩn in Paris (1926) during studying abroad in France

File:Bao Dai 1926.jpg|Bảo Đại in Paris, 1926

File:Enthronement of Emperor Bảo Đại 010.jpg|Enthronement ceremony of the emperor at the Imperial City, Huế.

File:Marseille 21 6 22 Sarraut l'empereur d'Annam (...)Agence Rol btv1b530824645 1.jpg|Emperor Khải Định, Prince Vĩnh Thụy (middle) and Albert Sarrault in Marseille, 1922.

File:Sa Majesté l'empereur d'Annam Bao-Daï (...)Agence de btv1b9052997q.jpg|Abd Al Rahman Barjach Pasha, governor of Rabat, meeting with Bảo Đại and prince Vĩnh Cẩn during their Morocco trip in 1932.

File:Empereur Bao Dai.jpg|Emperor in Vietnam after finishing his study in France.

File:Baodai2.jpg|

File:Emperor in cyclo.jpg|Emperor in cyclo.

File:Bao Dai in Hanoi.jpg|Bảo Đại visits a Catholic church in Hanoi.

File:Colorized Bao Dai.jpg|Emperor at Nam Giao ceremony.

• Bảo Đại was portrayed by actor {{ill|Huỳnh Anh Tuấn|vi}} in the 2004 Vietnamese miniseries Ngọn nến Hoàng cung (A Candle in the Imperial Palace).{{Cite web |last=VnExpress |title='Ngọn nến hoàng cung' - chất nhân văn nhẹ nhàng |url=https://vnexpress.net/ngon-nen-hoang-cung-chat-nhan-van-nhe-nhang-1880398.html |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=vnexpress.net |language=vi}}
• On 13 May 2017, a watch owned by Bảo Đại, a unique Rolex ref. 6062 triple calendar moonphase watch made for him while he was working in Geneva, became one of the most expensive watches ever sold, selling for a then record price of US$5,060,427 at a Phillips auction in Geneva.{{Cite web|url=https://www.phillips.com/detail/ROLEX/CH080117/93|title=ROLEX Ref. 6062|website=Philipps}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertanaas/2017/05/13/rolex-bao-dai-watch-sells-for-more-than-5-million-at-phillips-auction-new-world-record/#21598da734a2|title=Bao Dai Rolex Sells For More Than $5 Million At Phillips Auction, Setting A New World Record|last=Naas|first=Roberta|work=Forbes|access-date=23 November 2018|language=en}}

{{Main|Bảo Đại Thông Bảo}}

The last cash coin ever produced in the world bears the name of Bảo Đại in Chữ Hán. There are three types of this coin. Large cast piece with 10 văn inscription on the reverse, medium cast piece with no reverse inscription, and small struck piece. All were issued in 1933.

File:Bao-Dai-Thong-Bao.gif|Bảo Đại Thông Bảo 10 văn

File:保大通宝小平銭.gif|Bảo Đại Thông Bảo plain reverse

File:BaoDaiThongBao.gif|Struck Bảo Đại Thông Bảo

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• In 1945 when the Japanese colonel in charge of the Hue garrison told Bảo Đại that he had (in line with the orders of the Allied commander) taken measures ensuring the security of the Imperial Palace and those within it against a possible Việt Minh coup, Bảo Đại dismissed the protection declaring "We do not wish a foreign army to spill the blood of our people."{{ cite book | title = Vietnam 1945: The Quest for Power | author = D. G. Marr | publisher = University of California Press | location = London, England | year = 1997 | isbn = 9780520212282 }}
• He explained his abdication in 1945 saying "We would prefer to be a citizen of an independent country rather than Emperor of an enslaved one."
• When, after World War II, France attempted to counter Hồ Chí Minh's popularity and gain the support of the U.S. by creating an associated state with him, he said "What they call a Bảo Đại solution turns out to be just a French solution."{{ cite book | title = Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam | url = https://archive.org/details/derelictionofdut00mcma | url-access = registration | author = H. R. McMaster | year = 1998 | location = New York, NY | publisher = HarperCollins | isbn = 9780060929084 }}
• In a rare public statement from France in 1972, Bảo Đại appealed to the people of Vietnam for national reconciliation, saying "The time has come to put an end to the fratricidal war and to recover at last peace and accord."{{ cite news | date = 2 August 1997 | title = Bao Dai, 83, of Vietnam; Emperor and Bon Vivant | author = P. Shenon | newspaper =The New York Times| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/02/world/bao-dai-83-of-vietnam-emperor-and-bon-vivant.html }}

• Sovereign and Grand Master of the Imperial Order of the Dragon of Annam.
• Sovereign and Grand Master of the Imperial Order of Merit of Annam (revived and expanded as the National Order of Vietnam on 10 June 1955).

• {{flag|Thailand|1917}}: Knight of the Most Illustrious Order of the Royal House of Chakri (Kingdom of Thailand, 1939).
• {{flagcountry|French Third Republic}}: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honour (10 September 1932).
• {{flagcountry|Cambodia}}: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia.
• {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Laos}}: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Million Elephants and the White Parasol.
• {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Belgium}}: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (1935).
• {{flagcountry|Morocco}}: Knight Grand Cross of the Sharifian Order of Al-Alaoui (Kingdom of Morocco).
• {{flagcountry|Johor}}: Member First Class of the Royal Family Order of Johor [DKI] (21 March 1933).

{{Reflist}}

• Anh, Nguyên Thê. "The Vietnamese Monarchy under French Colonial Rule 1884–1945." Modern Asian Studies 19.1 (1985): 147–162 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/312324 online].
• Chapuis, Oscar. The Last Emperors of Vietnam: From Tu Duc to Bao Dai (Greenwood, 2000).
• Chapman, Jessica M. "Staging democracy: South Vietnam's 1955 referendum to depose Bao Dai." Diplomatic History 30.4 (2006): 671–703. [https://escholarship.org/content/qt629724zz/qt629724zz.pdf online]
• Hammer, Ellen J. "The Bao Dai Experiment." Pacific Affairs 23.1 (1950): 46–58. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2753754 online]
• Hess, Gary R. "The first American commitment in Indochina: The acceptance of the 'Bao Dai solution', 1950." Diplomatic History 2.4 (1978): 331–350. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24910123 online]
• {{ cite book | author = Lockhart. Bruce McFarland | title = The End of the Vietnamese Monarchy | series = Lac Viet Series | volume = 15 | location = New Haven, CT | publisher = Yale Center for International and Area Studies | year = 1993 | isbn = 9780938692508 }}
• Szalontai, Balázs. "The 'Sole Legal Government of Vietnam': The Bao Dai Factor and Soviet Attitudes toward Vietnam, 1947–1950." Journal of Cold War Studies (2018) 20#3 pp 3–56. [https://www.academia.edu/download/62870201/JCWS_Bao_Dai20200408-53381-uhbp55.pdf online]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

• Bảo Đại's memoirs have been published in French and in Vietnamese; the Vietnamese version appears considerably longer.
• {{ cite book | author = Bảo Đại | title = Le dragon d'Annam | language = fr | location = Paris | publisher = Plon | year = 1980 | isbn = 9782259005210 }}
• {{ cite book | author = Bảo Đại | title = Con rong Viet Nam: hoi ky chanh tri 1913–1987 | language = vi | location = Los Alamitos, CA | publisher = Nguyen Phuoc Toc (distributed by Xuan Thu Publishing) | year = 1990 | oclc = 22628825 }}

{{Commons category|Emperor Bảo Đại}}

• {{PM20|FID=pe/000989}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070705175415/http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Bluffs/7645/kinghse.jpg Web citation]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070705175416/http://image.pegs.com/images/VS/1744/1744_b1.jpg Images]

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{{s-hou|House of Nguyễn Phúc|22 October|1913|31 July|1997}}

{{s-reg|}}

{{s-bef|before=Khải Định}}

{{s-ttl|title=Emperor of Vietnam|years=8 January 1926 – 25 August 1945}}

{{s-non|reason=Last Emperor (abdicated)}}

{{s-off}}

{{s-bef|before=Nguyễn Văn Xuân|as=president}}

{{s-ttl|title=Head of state of Vietnam|years=13 June 1949 – 30 April 1955}}

{{s-aft|after=Ngô Đình Diệm|as=president}}

{{s-bef|before=Khải Định}}

{{s-ttl|title=Head of the House of Nguyen Phuc |years=8 January 1926 – 31 July 1997}}

{{s-aft|after=Bảo Long}}

{{s-end}}

{{Emperors of the Nguyen dynasty}}

{{Nguyễn dynasty topics}}

{{Monarchs of Vietnam}}

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{{Heads of state of Vietnam}}

{{Prime ministers of Vietnam}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bao, Dai}}

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