Princess Dowager Krjong

The Princess Dowager Krjong (Shinasthana: 龔太后, krjong-ladh-goh; May 2, 1893 – Oct. 5, 1975) was the mother of Emperor Hên. She was known as Princess-dowager Gwin (弦太后, gwin-ladh-goh) after her son became emperor. She married Prince Kr′ang, a grandson of Emperor Mjen, in 1914 and gave birth to Emperor Hên in 1916. Widowed when her husband died in 1920, her son was not expected to become emperor as Emperor Grui was expected to father an heir. When his was assassinated in 1923, her son was taken from her custody, crowned, and raised by nurses and tutors, an arrangement she constantly protested to no avail due to the overwhelming opposition of Empress Dowager Gwidh, Grui's consort. Krjong only became an important figure at court on Gwidh's death in 1955.  

Princess-dowager Krjong private life was less constrained by the rules of royalty than many of her contemporaries, due to her liberal upbringing and distance from court life. She frequently clashed with Gwidh, over her position at court and influence over courtiers. Though she was an aristocrat, she deliberately related with ordinary Themiclesians to set herself apart from Gwidh, who was an archconservative on court life and the privileges of the upper class. Her relationship with the late Emperor Hên drew scholars who studied the effects of the artificial separation between her and her son. She resented the fact that her son called Gwidh "my mother empress", and herself "Princess-dowager of Gwin". After Gwidh died, she petitioned to unite with her son but was rebuffed by Conservative peers; the matter drew criticism from many advocacies. Conservative courtiers relenting in 1961 to make way for liberalization at court. While many of her decisions were controversial at the time, they have come to be positively received more recently.

Princess-dowager

Post-war public activity

Relations between Gwidh and Krjong remained icy after the war, the two consistently attacking each other's retainers and favourites in the press. This enmity spurred a gossip press that Krjong actively encouraged, in order to tarnish Gwidh's image. In 1949, Krjong made a public appearance at Tjo-ts'jakw-men Station to greet soldiers returning from Menghe, and Gwidh muttered that she puts herself at risk for assassination if she met such a large quantity of people. Krjong proved very popular with the forces, many of whom bowed seeing her person. One of gossipping news editors friendly to Krjong asked who is scheming to assassinate members of the royal family, now that the war was over. Krjong even appeared at the tumulus of the Captain-general of Marines who committed suicide due to Gwidh's admonishing. These actions infuriated Gwidh, who appeared at court in early 1950 and advocated that Krjong should be kept indoors. The Conservative government, though sympathetic to Gwidh, told her that nothing could be done to limit her itinerary now that the war ended.

Reformist

Gwidh died in 1955 at the advanced age of 87. Krjong appeared at her lying-in-state but did not show obvious signs of sadness. The ceremonies continued at Gweng-l′junh Palace for the next 13 months before she was interred at the Eternal Mausoleum; during this period, the emperor conducted funerary rites, but Krjong motivated her friends in the press to advocate an economical funeral for her, saying that she would have preferred it in view of her economy drive during the war. In the 80s, it became known that Gwidh planned her own funeral with great enthusiasm to be a sumptuous one, costing many millions and on a scale exceeding that of her husband. Immediately, Krjong moved the Liberal-leaning Parliament to revise those plans to cost only 12% of their original estimates. The new plan provided for a burial in her husband's tumulus, whereas she planned one for herself. The emperor intervened, to her surprise, and made more generous allowances from his household budget. She was initially mortified that her own son would not support her, but sources close to her revealed that she gradually understood that the emperor was signalling to her that she must not spite or politicize matters if she wanted to effect real change at court; otherwise, a change of government would immediately jeopardize her legacy.

After Gwidh was interred in June 1956, Krjong asked if she could move into Hên-ljang Palace and be united with her son; however, a number of Conservative peers deeply opposed this plan. While she once again sought to rely on the Liberal press to champion her cause, she eventually decided against this and instead invited biographers and anthropologists to her court and speak of her experiences. In the great social changes of the 50s, her isolation from her son, once considered natural for royalty, was met with great domestic and foreign sympathy. Royal journalism made a surprisingly fast in Themiclesia, when Krjong made the unprecedented decision of opening her life to journalists. She instructed Metropolitan Police to stop the practice of clearing crowds where she intended to visit, which enabled her to make visits more frequently. Gwidh had told her in the 20s that public appearances are best kept to a minimum, since clearing the crowds was invariably a disruption to public business. In 1958, she became the first mother of a reigning monarch to dine at a restaurant not reserved for her. Though this had been done by Emperor Goi and Grui, they were always accompanied by their courtiers. When asked if she would seek the title of agnate empress dowager, she said that she was only the emperor's mother and sought no titles at court.

In 1959, her biographer published the book Three Mothers of the Emperor, recounting the interactions of three women that raised the regining emperor of Themiclesia. The first was his natural mother, Princess Krjong; the second, his political mother, Empress Dowager Gwidh; the third, his nurse, whose identity remained a secret until 1999. It made some surprising revelations that were not wholly flattering to the Princess-dowager, who could be vindictive and imperious, particularly with her misgivings at Empress-dowager Gwidh. However, nobody in the book was particularly defended; each person had some significant character flaw, albeit somewhat dramatized. The Themiclesian royal family was one of the more secretive ones towards non-elites, and this book became the first narrative window into it. Public opinion, both Conservative and Liberal, gradually shifted in her direction and away from the aristocracy. The Conservative Party at this time was also internally restructuring to reduce reliance on aristocratic support and was happy to be associated with the progressive overtones offered by the Princess-consort. Eventually, public opinion pressured the Conservative peers managing the royal family to resign in 1961. The Privy Council lost much of its influence in this restructuring of the royal households.

See also

• Themiclesia