Miên Trinh was the eleventh son of Minh Mạng, and his mother was Lê Thị Ái.

After Tự Đức's death, he was granted the title Tuy Lý Vương (綏理王 "Prince of Tuy Lý") and named as regent together with Nguyễn Phúc Miên Định (Prince of Thọ Xuân) to assist the new emperor.

In 1885, Tôn Thất Thuyết launched a failed uprising against the French colonists, and escaped from Huế together with Emperor Hàm Nghi.

During the emperor's absence, Miên Định was appointed as puppet "Prince Regent" (giám quốc) by French general Henri Roussel de Courcy.

Emperor Tự Đức, set a high value on his poetry: "Former Han proses are not worth comparing with those written by Siêu and Quát; (the quality of) High Tang poetry are surpassed by those written by Tùng and Tuy" (Classical Chinese: 文如超适無前漢 詩到從綏失盛唐; Vietnamese: Văn như Siêu, Quát vô tiền Hán; Thi đáo Tùng, Tuy thất thịnh Đường).