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The writer with Princess Yi Haegyong in New York City

A PrincesS' emories of
Life within the Palace Walls
H Juancho Baylon

After long months of waiting, I finally got the go-signal to interview her. The meeting place was the 35th floor cocktail lounge of the Mandarin Oriental in New York City overlooking the panoramic view of Central Park and Midtown Manhattan. The occasion: a late November afternoon tea with a Korean princess.

Thoughts of meeting Korean Princess Yi Haegdong - one of the few living descendants of the Royal Family in Korea - bring to the mind of those familiar with Korean history the peninsula's heritage, culture, beliefs, welfare and development more than half a millennium back, especially the Choseon Dynasty (1392-1910) founded by Yi Song-ye, also known is King T'aejo. He founded the city of Seoul and made it capital in 1394 based on the perfect geomantic principles.

What I learned from that afternoon tea chat - about her royal life in the Sadong Palace in Seoul until she left for the United States in 1956 - turned out very captivating that more than a week later, I was in Seoul to visit the Royal Palaces and to know more about the Korean way of life.

Princess Yi, who was born in 1930, is a direct descendant - by 28 generations - of King T'aejo. She is the granddaughter of Emperor Kojong and niece of Emperor Sunjong, the last sovereign of Korea. Her father, Prince Yi Kang, officially known as Ui'chinwang, is the son of Emperor Kojong and the first member of the Korean family to be educated abroad - in Japan and the United States. She said is one last few remaining members of the royal family who grew up in the royal palace and given a royal title and name. The last crown prince of Korea, Yi Ku, died in July last year.

When I was 3 or 4 years old, the princess said, when asked of her earliest recollections of her father, he would always mess up my hair when I sat beside home at the dining table and tell me 'You're a very cute girl'." He was also teasing me he would marry me off to a Chinese man who made dumplings and who had braided hair with long fingernails, she said, adding: "My father enjoyed kidding me."

Queen Yung, she remembered was also very fond of her. She would often ask me to sing and dance at her private salon in the Changdokgung Palace and later give me nice dolls and cookies. I enjoyed my picnics with the Queen by the lake complete with exotic food and sandwiches prepared by the Queen's Western chef party, she said.

Another favorite aunt she recalled is Princess Yi Pangja. The Japanese government reportedly forcibly married off an uncle of Princess Haegyong to a Japanese princess named Nasako Nashinoto, a first cousin of Japan's Empress Nagako. Princess Masako became Yi Pangja after her marriage.

Her father, Prince Yi Kang, she said, was the special ambassador to the Meiji Emperor in 1894-95. Political matters, however, were never discussed at home for fear of spies among the Korean and Japanese palace servants since relations then were turbulent, especially during the Japanese occupation when the princess was growing up. A code of silence was observed by members of the Royal Family during the occupation.

The princess had vivid recollections of the account of Princess Kim, her mother, on the painful details that haunted Emperor Kojong - who would walk back and forth in his room at Gyeongbukgong Palace all night long thinking of the fate of his country - shortly before the annexation of Korea to Japan in 1910. The emperor, she said, thought the United States was going to help him and Korea but his plight went unnoticed.

The princess considers her mother, Princess King as her main role model and mentor. "I was raised very strictly because my mother was teaching me all the etiquette of the Royal Family yet she told me not to be 'a royal' too much. She always told me to be humble even to palace servants and not to emphasize that I am a princess when outside the Palace," she recalled.

Asked of her memories in the palace as a schoolgirl, she replied "it's very hard to say because I hated it but come to think of it, I had a very pampered life in the palace that a lot of girls do not have."

There was so much pampering, indeed, that even until she reached college, Princess Haegyong never had to comb her hair and wash herself for there was always a palace servant who would bathe her.

Despite the royal court traditions, splendor in the palace and high society affairs, Princess Kim made sure her daughter grew up 'as normally' as possible and insisted that her daughter would have formal private education outside the palace walls. Calligraphy and ceremonial bows, however, were taught inside to Princess Haegyong as part of her royal upbringing and heritage.

Her mother also made sure she received a well-rounded education and upbringing so she could adapt to changing times but instilled Confucian values and emphasized that royal women "were to be seen and not heard".

I was told to be the same as the other schoolgirls and not to act differently yet I was treated differently. For example, she recalled, palace ladies and servants would bring her lunch and I would eat, separately from my classmates, in a room where the teachers were, she looked back.

The palace issued a directive to the school not to let the young princess appear in stage plays and programs outside the school grounds.

Princess Haegyong excelled in sports and in the arts that eventually she was offered the lead role by a Japanese film company. Her mother was furious and disapproved her plea that she was very brokenhearted. This was during the Choseon period, she said, when actors were considered in the lower rungs of society.

May 31st in 1950 would always leave a wistful expression and pensive feeling for Princess Haegyong as she recalled a turning point in her country's history. "I went out with my friend that day and we heard a crazy sound - like a bursting cannon or the sound of fighting - from the north. Everybody looked startled. A few minutes later, we witnessed turmoil as a lot of vehicles moved northward and people saying that the war has started," she said.

But she added that her friend, instead of getting that scared, decided to proceed to a fancy pastry shop and eat. We told each other, 'Let's eat a nice cake before we die.'.. we were too young to think seriously of the situation, she further said.

At nighttime, they could hear fighting sounds getting closer and closer, she said, and all of us got together in one room of the palace as we heard North Korena tanks rolling into Seoul. The next morning, the Princess saw from the palace that a red flag was being hoisted at the Capitol dome.

I saw North Koreans with red bands picking up and arresting people who resisted Communism, she said, and it was a very terrible time. My mother wanted me to burn the family pictures right away and destroy the medals and decorations my father said, saying we would all die if they found out, the princess recalled, adding: "Mother did not want us to suffer from the same fate of the Russian Imperial Family."

Things worsened as a few days later, the Chinese Communists advanced toward Seoul, causing more unrest and violence. The Royal family members were then evacuated to Pusan - within the perimeters of the United Nations -where they found refuge in a Buddhist seminary

In 1956, a year after her father died, Princess Yi Haegyong left Korea to study in the United States, where she overcame problems and challenged posed by cultural diversity, thanks to the upbringing and values, particularly on self reliance and flexibility instilled by her mother.

Today, the princess, who has remained regal and graceful, has maintained her deep concerns for Korea through initiatives in cultural preservation and awareness after witnessing the struggles of her country from foreign occupation, war and poverty toward its development toward greater reliance, wealth and industrialization.

She worked as a librarian of the C.V. Starr East Asian Library of the Columbia University in New York until she retired in 1997. Using the pen name, Amy Hai Kyung Lee, she has been writing books, including Na ui ahoji Ui ch'inwang: Choson Wangjo Majimak Wangnyo ui Haegorok (My Father Prince Ui: Memoirs of the Past Princess of the Choson Dynasty)".

How she managed to remain graceful and regal, apparently is reflected in what she said, looking back at the grim events during the war: "When things happen like that, you get a lot of guts you did not know you have."

The writer, a native of Bacolod City, is now a resident of Canada. He is home for the holidays. He has a Business Management degree from the University of St. La Salle, where he later enrolled in the Master of Business Administration program. He has been interested in Korean culture, history and arts. He enjoys watching Korean telenovelas.

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