Masked Perverts Living It Up

[King Khải Định in Marseille, 1922]

Just steps from my room is Hoàng Diệu Street. He’s the mayor of Hanoi when it fell to the French in 1882. For two years, he had unsuccessfully pleaded with King Tự Đức for more military funding. Unknown to Hoàng Diệu, the king had decided to cede Hanoi to the French. With defeat inevitable, Hoàng Diệu told his remaining troops to save themselves by fleeing. In grief and shame, he then committed suicide by hanging. As for Tự Đức, he had enough self awareness to write, “Glorious on the outside but with a weak army, many discussions yielding few successes.”

Tự Đức was on the throne for an incredible 35 years. A realistic portrait by L. Ruffier shows a weak chinned, feeble man under an enormous headdress. With one empress and 104 concubines, Tự Đức produced no offspring. That may be his greatest achievement.