The Queen Who Crowns ~ Can a Queen Wear a King’s Crown?

“The Queen Who Crowns” is a Korean drama series released in 2025, with 12 episodes, categorized as historical fiction, costume and period, Sageuk, Political, Melodrama, and Romance; streaming on Viki.

SUMMARY: Is it the Queen who decides who wears the crown?

♦ The Queen Decides Who Wears the Crown

In “The Queen Who Crowns”, during the Joseon Dynasty, Lee Bang Won (later known as King Taejong) ascended to the throne after killing his half-brother whom his father had designated to succeed him a king. This murderous act drove a wedge between him and his father. Their father-son relationship ended and he was never able to reconcile with his father and receive his approval as the legitimate king. To the father, he was just a bloody usurper.

Lady Min, his son’s wife, who became Queen Won Gyeong, was no better because she used her family’s wealth and influence to put Lee Bang Won on the throne. The couple was bloodthirsty, and power-hungry, and did not deserve to occupy the throne. However, the Queen believed that she and her husband, the king, would create a new Joseon and it would be much better.

In Joseon, there were specific rituals and protocols tied to Confucian principles, aimed at ensuring the bloodline of the royal lineage and the stability of the kingdom. The purpose of having sex was to produce an heir. Not for fun or pleasure! There were even mandated copulation dates. Initially, the relationship between Lee Bang Won and Lady Min was very passionate. They dared to defy the rules and copulated whenever they pleased. There were many times when they enjoyed themselves. The king promised his queen that they would go through everything together and build the kingdom together.

But even though the queen was in the king’s bed often, he found time to secretly bed one of her maids. Not just any maid. He bedded the maid who was the closest and most loyal to the queen. One day that maid disappeared. Several years later that maid reappeared, with a young boy, declaring that he was a prince, i.e. the king’s son.

The queen did what any WIFE would do. She confronted the king, her HUSBAND, and demanded to know if it was even possible that the boy was his son. The king said “Yes” and indicated that he was ready and willing to accept him as a prince who might be a legitimate heir to the throne. She asked: “Why?”

Clearly, she thought she had never done anything to provoke this BETRAYAL. Had she not always supported him in everything? Didn’t she get her family to use their wealth and influence to help him ascend to the throne? Didn’t he promise they would do everything TOGETHER? When he bedded her maid she surely wasn’t there!

Now that he is king he has changed. WHY? He finally unleashed all of the resentment, anger, and humiliation he had been harboring. Lee Bang Won told his queen that he had been humiliated by her family many times. They did not revere and honor him as their king because they had used their wealth and influence to put him on the throne.

Even others whispered about how Lady Min’s family had helped him get rid of his half-brother to take the throne. The king is where he is now, only because Lady Min decided who should wear the crown. Was Lady Min ever once humiliated? Never! She walked around proudly – revered and honored as the queen – and the king heard some say that if she had been a man, she could have been a king.

Even though it was common for kings to have concubines and to bed any maid in the palace because they were all “the king’s women”, Won Gyeong believed she had always satisfied the king’s desires and that he would never look at another woman, let alone a maidservant that she trusted and treasured.

Why did he bed the queen’s most trusted maidservant? TO HUMILIATE THE QUEEN!

That was the only way the king knew that he could make her feel the humiliation he felt. He did it so that she didn’t walk around with so much pride and constantly reminded him that she was the one who persuaded her family to use their wealth and influence.

On the night of their “mandated copulation,” she was going to refuse the king. But her servants pleaded with her saying they would all die if she refused to consummate their relationship on the “assigned date”. Even though she was angry and jealous and couldn’t stand the thought of being in bed with the king, she reluctantly entered the chamber. The king entered the chamber and then he left. He was the one who refused. And do you know what else he did on that “auspicious night” when he and the queen were supposed to try to produce an heir to the throne? He bedded another one of her trusted maidservants.

It became painfully obvious to the queen that the king had shown her his true colors. Their passionate relationship which she thought would last forever, quickly deteriorated. But what would happen after that? Would the new world she dreamed of ever become a reality?

(NOTE: The record of the real queen indicates her contributions helped shape the political landscape and ensure the continuity of the Joseon Dynasty. But was Joseon “better” under her? It’s difficult to say.)

Main Characters:

• Won Gyeong (played by Cha Joo Young, “The Real Has Come”, “The Glory 1 and 2”, “The Heavenly Idol”, “Wok of Love”, “Jugglers”)
• Lee Bang Won (played by Lee Hyun Wook, “The Policeman’s Lineage”, “Song of the Bandits”, “Remarriage and Desires”, “Search”, “Strangers From Hell”)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: (no rating) out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 7.6 out of 10 stars
• Viki viewers rated this series: 9.7 out of 10 stars

My personal rating is the same as the Viki viewing audience.

This historical K-drama is based on the true historical regime of Queen Won Gyeong and King Tae Jong of Joseon, the 3^rd ruler of the Joseon Dynasty.

• REF: Griffis, Ben. “Taejong of Joseon.” World History Encyclopedia, https://www.worldhistory.org/Taejong_of_Joseon/. Accessed 7 Jan. 2025.

This Korean drama has been criticized because some think it is inappropriate to have sexual scenes in content with a rating for 15+. One reviewer said: “This isn’t a historical drama; it’s soft porn”. I agree. Other than that, the acting a excellent, the costumes are authentic, and I’m starting to think Lee Bang Won (or Yi Bang Won) is one of those historical figures that writers love to RE-write about. If he is not the main character in the story, they make sure to reference him in another historical figure’s story.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

‘The Queen Who Crowns’ Lee Hyun-wook and Cha Joo-young, Ratings Surge with Bold Scenes | New Drama | K-drama | 기사본문 – K-en News

‘The Queen Who Crowns’ Under Fire for Excessive Sexual Content | ZAPZEE | Premier Korean Entertainment Magazine

Potentially Rated R: New Historical Drama “The Queen Who Crowns” (“Won Gyeong”) Premiering in 2025 | KPOPPOST

Everything to Know About Cha Joo-young’s Upcoming Historical Kdrama! “The Queen Who Crowns” | Leisurebyte

Cha Joo Young transforms into a powerful queen in upcoming drama The Queen Who Crowns |MSN

TRAILER/TEASER:

K.-WORLD HIGHLIGHTS. “THE QUEEN WHO CROWNS (2025) Korean Drama.” YouTube, Video, 3 Jan. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yytMzUHd3bU.

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