In 1769, his elder brother, Lê Duy Vĩ, was stripped of his position as Crown Prince and imprisoned by Trịnh Sâm.
In 1782, Trịnh Khải staged a coup and came into power, Cận was deposed and granted the title Sùng Nhượng Công (崇讓公).
[1] In 1787, Tây Sơn general Vũ Văn Nhậm led an army to attack Thăng Long (modern Hanoi).
In order to gain popularity among Northern Vietnamese, Nhậm install Cận as "Prince Regent" (監國 giám quốc), but very few people support them.
Huệ retreated from northern Vietnam, Cận remained his position,[2] Sở and Lân were left in Thăng Long to watch him.