Royal Noble Consort Yeongbin Yi

Royal Noble Consort Yeong of the Jeonui Yi clan (Korean: 영빈 전의 이씨; Hanja: 暎嬪 全義 李氏; 15 August 1696 – 23 August 1764), alternatively known as Lady Seonhui (Korean: 선희궁; Hanja: 宣禧宮), was a concubine of King Yeongjo of Joseon and the mother of Crown Prince Sado.

Yi Seon was not the first male child to be born to Yeongjo, but the death of Crown Prince Hyojang, nearly seven years earlier, meant that the court was particularly pleased to welcome another son.

[3] Yeongjo ordered Sado to be brought up in a palace quite far from the main residence, so Lady Yi did not personally oversee his upbringing.

[4] The court ladies in charge of looking after the prince apparently slighted Noble Consort Yeong frequently, as they considered her to be of common birth.

[10] She was also aware that her son was suffering from a serious mental illness and that he was killing ladies-in-waiting and eunuchs, as the Crown Princess went to her for advice after Sado's first murder, in 1757.

[13] When he began to threaten Princess Hwawan to gain more personal freedoms, Consort Yeong attended their meetings, as she feared for her daughter's safety.

[17] After the execution of Sado, Lady Hyegyŏng records that Consort Yeong transferred her love to her grandson, who moved into the upper palace and slept in the same room as his grandmother.

During the reign of Gojong, Lady Yi was posthumously honoured with the title Soyu (Korean: 소유; Hanja: 昭裕).