The first Korean historical drama I watched was Scarlett Heart Ryo, which I still consider the best. Next to that comes Mr Queen. I really loved the main lead's acting. From these two I get to understand all the politics, relationships, jealousies, hyprocricies, and issues of trust/mistrust within the palace. I didn't watch Under the Queen's Umbrella until December 2022, when the series had already completed, and as I finished watching all the episodes I could only say: Wow, what a great story line.

Of course the acting was all good: the queen, queen dowager, the king, princes, court ladies were all superb. But the story itself was very strong. You get so many surprised in each episode, not knowing what the queen did before hand. Sometimes as a viewer, I felt "deceived" by her actions by not knowing she did many thing for good purposes, such as accusing her daughter-in-law for murdering the crown prince (when in fact she was saving the crown princesses life). Her relationship with the other wives, the princes, the court doctor, the deposed queen was so beautiful protrayed with many twists and suprises.

I think this is one of the best historical drama I saw in 2020. It was also a visual treat for me to see the costumes, country scenery, and court ceremonies.