Chevalier D'Eon - Life As A Spy

Life As A Spy

In 1756 d'Éon joined the secret network of spies called Le Secret du Roi which worked for King Louis XV personally, without the knowledge of the government, and sometimes against official policies and treaties. The monarch sent d'Éon on a secret mission to Russia in order to meet Empress Elizabeth and intrigue with the pro-French faction against the Habsburg monarchy. d'Éon disguised himself as a lady Lea de Beaumont to do so, and even became a maid of honour to the Empress. At the time the English would only allow women and children across the border into Russia in an attempt to prevent the French from reaching the Empress, since the French and English were at odds with each other. Given the delicate nature of the spywork, d'Éon had to convince the Russians, the English and even his own France that he was a woman or he would have been executed by the English upon discovery. His career in Russia is the subject of one of Valentin Pikul's novels, Le chevalier d'Éon et la guerre de Sept ans. He was secretary to the embassy in St. Petersburg from 1758 to 1760.

In 1761, d'Éon returned to France. The next year he became a captain of dragoons under the Marshal de Broglie and fought in the later stages of the Seven Years' War. d'Éon was wounded. In 1762 he was sent to London to draft the peace treaty which was signed in Paris 10 February 1763. As a result of this, he received the Order of Saint-Louis.

In 1763, after successful negotiation with the British government as secretary of the Duke of Nivernais with the title special ambassador, d'Éon became plenipotentiary minister in London - essentially an interim ambassador - and used this position also to spy for the king. d'Éon collected information for a potential invasion - an unfortunate and clumsy initiative of Louis XV, of which Louis's ministers were unaware. D'Éon formed connections with English nobility by sending them the produce of his vineyard and abundantly enjoyed the splendour of this interim embassy.

Upon the arrival of the new ambassador, the Count of Guerchy, he was reduced to his former rank as secretary and humiliated by the count. d'Éon complained, and eventually decided to disobey orders to return to France. In his letter to the king, d'Éon claimed that the new ambassador had tried to drug him. In an effort to save his station in London, he published most of the secret diplomatic correspondence about his recall under the title Lettres, mémoires, et négociations in 1764, disavowing Guerchy and calling him unfit for his job. This breach of diplomatic secret was scandalous to the point of being unheard of, but d'Éon had not yet published everything (he kept the King's secret invasion documents and those relative to the Secret du Roi as "insurance"), and the French government became very cautious in its dealings with d'Éon, even when d'Éon sued Guerchy for attempted murder. With the invasion documents in hand, d'Éon held the king in check.

In 1766, Louis XV granted him a pension for his services (or as a pay-off for silence) and gave him a 12,000-livre annuity. D'Éon continued to work as a spy, but lived in political exile in London. His possession of the king's secret letters protected him against further actions, but d'Éon could not return to France.