SUMMARY: Taken to Japan at age 13 as a political hostage during colonial rule. The tragic life of Princess Lee Deokhye, the final royal daughter of the Joseon Dynasty. Her fight to return home intertwines with the Korean independence movement.
In “The Last Princess”, Princess Lee Deokhye is the final princess of the Joseon Dynasty. Her life was shaped by political turmoil, forced exile, and a lifelong yearning for home. She was raised during the collapse of Korea’s monarchy under Japanese colonial rule. Her life becomes a symbol of a nation’s suffering and resilience.
The film begins in 1925, when 13-year-old Princess Lee Deokhye is forcibly taken to Japan under the guise of receiving a modern education. In reality, she is a political hostage meant to erase the last vestiges of Korean sovereignty. Despite her youth, Princess Lee Deokhye remains emotionally tied to her homeland. She writes letters and makes repeated attempts to return. Each attempt is thwarted by General Han Taek-Soo, a Korean pro-Japanese official determined to keep her under imperial control. “I now serve the Heavenly Emperor of Japan.”
As she grows older, Princess Lee Deokhye’s isolation deepens. She is compelled into an arranged marriage with a Japanese aristocrat. Though the marriage produces a daughter, it does little to ease her loneliness or sense of displacement. The emotional strain, combined with years of political suppression, leads to her developing schizophrenia, and she is eventually institutionalized in a Japanese mental hospital.
Parallel to the story of the princess is that of Kim Jang-Han, her childhood friend. He became a member of the Korean Independence Movement. Kim Jang-Han’s unwavering loyalty and love for Princess Lee Deokhye form the emotional backbone of the film. He orchestrates a plan to smuggle Princess Lee Deokhye and her brother, who had also been taken hostage, to Shanghai. In Shanghai, a Korean Provisional Government had been set up. Unfortunately, their escape attempt was thwarted.
Kim Jang-Han’s life continues in Korea, where he becomes a journalist but never stops searching for Princess Lee Deokhye. His persistence pays off when he locates her in the mental institution years later. Shocked by her condition yet determined to restore her dignity, he petitions the South Korean government to allow her return. After political hesitation and public pressure, the government finally agrees.
In 1962, Princess Lee Deokhye returns to Korea in one of the film’s most emotional sequences. Her homecoming is bittersweet, she is welcomed by crowds who remember her as a symbol of the lost monarchy, yet she is a fragile remnant of the vibrant princess she once was. The film closes with a sense of closure: Princess Lee Deokhye, after decades of displacement, is finally home.
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Where to Watch: Apple TV, Tubi TV, and YouTube Movies & TV
My personal rating is the same as Letterboxd.
“The Last Princess” is based on the best-selling novel “Princess Deokhye” by Kwon Bi-young, which itself is based on the real-life last princess of the Joseon Dynasty.
Princess Deokhye, the final princess of the Korean royal family, spent her later years in a quiet, fragile state after decades of political exile and personal tragedy. Following her forced relocation to Japan at age 13 and a difficult marriage to a Japanese aristocrat, her mental health deteriorated. By the 1950s, she lived in a Japanese psychiatric institution, largely forgotten.
Her life changed in 1962, when South Korea, newly emerging from political upheaval, allowed her to return home after journalist Kim Jang-han and others advocated for her repatriation. Her homecoming was bittersweet: she was welcomed warmly by the public, yet she remained emotionally and psychologically fragile. Deokhye spent her final decades living quietly at Sugang Hall in Changdeok Palace ( now a UNESCO World Heritage site), the same palace complex where she was born. She died on April 21, 1989, at age 76, and was buried at Hongryureung in Gyeonggi Province. Even though she never regained her former identity as a royal figure, she was at least able to spend her last decades in her homeland.
Film Review: ‘The Last Princess’ (Deok-hye Onju): Son Ye-ji Stars in Her Finest Role | Variety
[Review] The Last Princess/Princess Deokhye – 덕혜옹주.” | Musings of a Chunkeemonkeeato
The Korean Royal Family Ends. | Korean Quarterly
CJEntertainmentUSA. “[THE LAST PRINCESS] (덕혜옹주) Official Teaser Trailer w/ English Subtitles [HD].” YouTube, 30 Aug. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XBNPgJmBOQ.
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