First consort of King Gyeongjong (posthumously named queen)
| Life | 1686 ~ 1718 |
| Era | 조선 후기 |
| Clan | 청송 심씨 |
Queen Danui (端懿王后, 1686–1718) was the first consort of King Gyeongjong, twentieth king of Joseon, and belonged to the Cheongsong Sim clan. Her father was Sim Ho, Prince Cheongeun, and her mother Lady Bak of Goryeong. A descendant of Sim On in the direct line of Sim Gang and Chief State Councillor Sim Yeol, she was the clan's third queen after Queens Soheon and Insun. Her full posthumous title is Yeonghwi Gonghyo Jeongmok Danui Wanghu.
She was chosen as crown princess in 1696, at the age of eleven, and married the crown prince who later became Gyeongjong. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture describes her as bright and virtuous from childhood, serving the king, queen and sickly crown prince without fault, while some readings of the Annals of King Sukjong suggest that she herself was often ill — in 1701 physicians discussed her confused speech, and illness kept her from the full mourning rites for Queen Inhyeon.
She died suddenly in 1718, two years before Gyeongjong took the throne, still a crown princess. The crown prince wrote her epitaph himself and King Sukjong granted the title Danui; that year a daughter of Eo Yu-gu (later Queen Seonui) was chosen as the new crown princess.
When Gyeongjong became king in 1720 she was posthumously made queen, her tomb named Hyereung and her shrine Yeonghwi, and in 1726 the honorific Gonghyo Jeongmok was added. Hyereung is in Inchang-dong, Guri, Gyeonggi Province. She thus never reigned as queen in her lifetime and was raised to that rank only after death.
After Gyeongjong's death her younger brother Sim Yu-hyeon raised doubts about how the king had died and joined the Yi In-jwa rebellion, which is said to have brought ruin on her family. Her great-grandfather Sim Gwon had been a leading Westerner and Governor of Jeolla.
She rests at Hyereung in Inchang-dong, Guri, Gyeonggi Province.