Knowledge: Princess Deokhye of Korea, the last royal family member of South Korea. She was the youngest daughter of Emperor Gojong of Korea and her mother was a concubine named Yang Gui-In. She was born on the 25th of May 1912, at Changdeokgung Palace of Seoul. Her story began before World War I. Ever since she was born, her life had never met the best end as she wasn’t recognised as part of the royal family due to her mother's status as concubine.
Her father aged 59 years old when she was born and she was considered as the darling of the nation. Her maidens, the people and royal staffs loved her playfulness as she brought laughter inside the silent and gloomy castle. Her father died quite suddenly on the 21st of January 1919 due to an unknown reason, but perhaps, if Princess Deokhye was still alive and remembered the details, we might know what had happened behind the closed doors.
Luckily, her late father was able to persuade the Governor-General of Korea to put Princess Deokhye into the Imperial Family registration before he passed away. Thus, in 1917, she was officially named as Princess Deokhye of Korea. Her life after the death of her beloved father was completely different. As there was no one left to become the next royal king, Japan decided to ‘protect’ Korea. Representatives from Japan came to meet Princess Deokhye and explained the details of their ‘protection plan’ to her. Little did she know, Japan was trying to colonize the royal family of Korea.
She moved to Japan in 1925, when she was only 13 years old. She was alone in Japan, while her birth mother was left alone in Korea along with the royal maidens and staff. Fear started to fill in her life as she was afraid of being assassinated. She had always brought along her own drinking bottle because she was afraid that someone would poison her drink. She wasn’t allowed to return to Korea at all. However, when her mother died in 1930, she was allowed to return temporarily.
By the early 1930s, Princess Deokhye began to suffer from mental health conditions. She was always sleepwalking and having difficulties sleeping at night, which had led her to an illness called schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder whereby one starts to see things abnormally
Although she was suffering from mental health issues when she was 19 years old, Japan was still selfish and forced her to marry a Japanese Aristocrat, Count So Takeyaka on the 8th of May 1931. We all know, this marriage won’t be happily ever after.
She gave birth to a daughter named Masae on the 4th of August 1932. At first, she started to have hope in her life again after the birth of her own child. However, her heart still longed for her nation. She missed her nation and the happiness she used to have there. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, the border’s gate into Korea in Japan was open again after a long time. Princess Deokhye took this chance to bring her daughter back to the nation of Korea. However, she wasn’t able to pass the border because the Koreans had labelled her as a traitor for running to Japan during the war. She had no chance to go back to her land.
At last, in 1953, she and her husband decided to file for a divorce. Later, her ex-husband remarried again in 1956. Her daughter, Masae was unable to stand the broken family they had, ran away in 1956, leaving behind a suicide note and she had not been seen ever since. Her condition got worse. She was admitted into one of the mental hospitals in Japan. She sat in her room alone, staring into the vast blue sky, imagining her life if she was back in Korea.
On the 16th of January 1962, newspapers were filled with headlines on the return of Princess Deokhye after 37 years of living alone in Japan. Just as the headlines stated “Princess Deokhye Returns Home, Immediately Admitted into University Hospital”, she was admitted into the Seoul University Hospital because her condition had worsened as she got older. She suffered from aphasia, which meant that she was unable to speak properly or understand others. However, upon stepping out of the plane in South Korea surrounded by reporters, she said that she would like to go to the castle she was born in. The castle has already become a museum for visitors. She still remembered clearly the way she ran happily around the castle and played with her royal courtiers. She sat on the chair her late father used to sit during the rule of Emperor Gojong of Korea. She sat there a little much longer than expected, while smiling and crying. Though she was unable to speak or understand others, the memories of her family were still freshly lingering in her mind.
She died at the age of 76 on the 21st of April 1989.
If you would like to know more about her life, I recommend watching “The Last Princess” movie published in 2016.
References :
Choi, D. (2020, October 18). The Tragic Life of the Last Princess of Korea. Retrieved December 09, 2020, from https://medium.com/history-of-yesterday/the -tragic-life-of-the-last-princess-of-korea-b6812dF49041
www.facebook.com/historyofroyalwomen. (2020, July 24). Princess Deokhye - The tragic tale of Korea's last Princess. Retrieved December 09, 2020, from https://www.historyofroyalwomen.com/deokhye-of-korea/princess-deokhye-the-tragic-tale-of-koreas-last-princess/
Suh, Y. (2015). The Formation of the Nation-State and Education Policy in Modern Korea (1876~ 1910). Asian Women, 31(1), 29-50. Retrieved from http://www.e-asianwomen.org/xml/03781/03781.pdf
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Published by Muhammad Hadwan & Aisyah Hanim
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