The King's Secret | Historical
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I think d'Aon was a very successful French spy in England who did exactly what the King's Secret and Louis XV wanted him to do. For those who harbored plans of renewed French fighting and an invasion of England, they were instrumental. So I would say d'Aon was in their own way a remarkably successful spy.

The King's Secret. It's the early 1760s, and two old rivals have arrived at an uneasy truce. For seven years, the empires of France and England fought on opposite sides during one of the world's first truly global conflicts.

But as the dust began to settle, there were those in France who didn't want peace with England. In fact, they found any peace treaty with England to be offensive to French national pride. And so, a network of French spies began to plan a possible invasion of their English mainland. They looked for weak points in their enemies' defenses.

any vulnerabilities that could be exploited. They relayed this intelligence directly to King Louis XV of France and waited for the perfect moment to strike. — Where England might be vulnerable to an invasion? Where do they have their defenses? Where is the navy housed? — One of the spies helping to plan this invasion was the Chevalier d'Eon.

an 18th century double agent who was a member of a secret intelligence network that was so underground that even the French government didn't know about it. Deon fought in wars too, even planned a secret invasion. But the Chevalier Deon is most well known for something else entirely: blurring gender boundaries.

The Chevalier d'Eon is important because d'Eon managed to do what, as far as we historians know about the past, no one else had ever done before.

That was not living as the other gender or as another gender. It wasn't living as a woman or a woman living as a man. That's been done in many societies throughout time. The unique story about the Chevalier d'Eon is that d'Eon did it as a kind of celebrity in front of the 18th century European public. This is Gary Cates.

Many scholars have written extensively about Déon, but Gary's book Monsieur Déon is a Woman is regarded as the definitive text. Déon lived as a woman later in life. While it's tempting to assign modern labels such as "transgender" to someone like the Chevalier Déon, these concepts as we understand them didn't exist for more than 150 years after Déon died.

So we can't know for sure if this is how they would have identified themselves. On top of this, debate has raged since Daon was alive as to whether their very public transition was an authentic desire to live as a different gender or whether it served another purpose. More on that later. Gary is a historian and when he's talking about Daon, he'll use the pronouns that Daon used at the point in time that he's discussing.

We'll use gender-neutral pronouns to refer to Déon throughout. Déon was born Charles Geneviève Louis-Auguste André Timothée Déon de Beaumont in 1728. But in this story, we'll refer to them simply as Déon. Déon grew up in Burgundy, a region in eastern France. Their mother and father were minor noblemen

civic servants. The dad is a civic functionary in Burgundy. And let's talk for a minute about Burgundy. Burgundy was known then by all Frenchmen and is known still today as having some of the best wines and vineyards in Europe.

and Déon's family purchased vineyards and grew wine like all wealthy families in Burgundy. Gary explains that Déon had a typical childhood for a member of the French nobility, and they seemed to have a bright future ahead of them.

He's a young nobleman, wealthy, very well educated, at the right schools, training in fencing, training in military arts, looking forward to become later in his life a military officer and perhaps, if he can, a functionary, a commander.

politician in the French monarchy. And, Deon is talented, he's physically talented, he's a great fencer. Deon is also very smart,

begins writing tracks for the French government on arcane subjects such as taxation. So, Dione is really an up-and-coming nobleman with a political and military career and intellectual career in front of him.

To really understand Déon and their later work as a spy, who helped plan a daring invasion, it's important to understand what was going on in France in the 18th century. At that time, France was a vast and powerful empire. And much like private companies today, empires were expected to grow and become more powerful. Déon was born at a time when France was a mighty force.

largely because of the reign of King Louis XIV, the Sun King.

Louis XIV had reigned for 70 years. He had built the palace of Versailles. He had extended France's borders. And most Frenchmen, even those who were critical of the king, even those who didn't like him, would tell you that Louis XIV was one of the greatest kings in French history and certainly the king that

perfected what we call absolutism or absolute monarchy. So to come

after Louis XIV is a very hard thing to do. Part of Louis XIV's genius was his daily work ethic from the moment he rose till he went to sleep, just how he played the game of managing an absolute monarchy. Most kings were not on the job 24-7 like Louis XIV.

Most kings did not take their kingship that seriously with that kind of work ethic. So Louis XV is like most other kings, but unlike Louis XIV. But shortly before Déon was born, Louis XIV died. His grandson, Louis XV, came to power, and he had a very different reputation.

Louis XV was perceived to be something of a playboy, a king who would much rather be in court entertaining than locked away in his chambers plotting to expand the French Empire.

I think some might call Louis XV a little lazy. Some might call Louis XV that he lacked any vision. Some would say about Louis XV, he would rather be in the arms of a mistress than be holding his king's council and planning for the next war. So Louis XV is a rather closed character without the genius of Louis XIV.

and for that reason is not held in high regard in the 18th century. But despite his reputation for a lack of effort, one innovation that Louis XV did create was a new underground network of spies. They were called the King's Secret, and this organization would become a crucial part of Dayon's life.

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So, the King's Secret is a group of 20 agents who spy for France over a 25-year period. And the reason it's called the King's Secret is not because it's secret from the public. That's obvious. It's that it's secret from the King's own foreign ministry and government. And this is what is so bizarre about it.

Sometimes the personal interests of King Louis XV would clash with those of France. So he created the king's secret for the times when he wanted to undermine his own foreign policy. And that's where Déon fits into the world of King Louis XV. Déon is young, smart, talented, and the ideal spy.

Everyone later would describe de Aon as extraordinarily intelligent, very witty, an excellent writer. We take for granted today, because a diplomat can just get on the telephone or email, we take for granted today the communication skills of what it takes to be a diplomat, if not a spy.

In the 18th century, one of the key ways for a diplomat to distinguish themselves was through their writing, because remember that it was their correspondence that was so valuable to the French court. So I think it was Daon's intellectual vibrancy and personality that made him so valuable as a young, early 30s up-and-coming diplomat.

- Deyon's first assignment for the King's Secret took place in the mid 1750s, and it was not an easy one. In fact, their spying career started with a trip into a diplomatic pressure cooker. Deyon would be going to Russia.

Daon enters the secret as a conduit and then Daon gets an official assignment as being the secretary to the new ambassador to Russia, St. Petersburg. And so when Daon goes to St. Petersburg to the court of Empress Elizabeth's Russia, Daon is playing a double role.

The stakes of this first assignment were high, because at the time Russia was an ally of England, and England and France were fierce rivals. Déon's mission was, simply put, to infiltrate the Russian court and convince the Russian monarch, Empress Elizabeth, to side with France. Déon would do this by gaining the Empress's trust and undermining English interests.

Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, wrote about the Chevalier Déon in a book called Famous Imposters. Stoker says that during their time in Russia, Déon was able to, quote, "creep into the good graces of the Empress." He became her reader and was thus enabled to prepare her for the reception of the secret purposes of his king.

And it's at this stage in Dayan's life that it's first reported that they dress as a woman. There are varying reports as to why Dayan decided to do this. Some historians say that it was because, at this time, only women and children were able to cross the border into Russia. Indeed, Dayan later claimed that dressing as a woman was necessary for fear that they would be executed by English forces within Russia.

And then there's the theory that it was a necessary measure to gain the trust of the Empress herself.

The story is that Daon cross-dresses in order to be in the private circle of Empress Elizabeth. The notion being that Empress Elizabeth is obviously a woman and Daon could become much closer to her if Daon was, if you will, a lady-in-waiting. That's the idea.

If Daon can be Empress Elizabeth's Lady of Waiting, well then, no one can get closer to Empress Elizabeth than that. But here's the thing with historical figures like Daon. The events of this story took place hundreds of years ago. Sometimes it's hard to tell what's fact and what's been distorted, passed into legend.

According to Gary, the truth is that Dayan did not assume a female identity to get closer to the Russian Empress. None of it is true. Now, there will be sticklers. Did Dayan ever...

cross-dress at the court of Russian Empress Elizabeth? And the answer is Russian Empress Elizabeth loved to throw masquerade balls. And at these masquerade balls, some of them were cross-dressing balls.

So probably in the 18th century, every nobleman from the major courts in Europe, major cities in Europe, would have known what it was like to be in an evening gown or the opposite because they all experienced at one point or another cross-dressing masquerade balls. But that's really as far as we get. Years later, this thread would become a huge part of Dayon's identity. But...

lacking first-person insights into Déon's feelings about their gender. All we know is that at this point in their life, they consistently presented as male. Déon's first foray into the world of espionage was a success. It's reported that they gained the Empress's trust and that in part because of Déon's influence, Russia switched sides and became an ally of France. Bram Stoker wrote this about the success of Déon's mission:

The gratitude of King Louis was shown by his making Déon a captain of dragoons and conferring on him a pension of 2,400 livres. He was also made censor of history and literature. The dragoons were a part of the French army, and soon, Déon would be sent to the front lines. Because, in 1756, France went to war. After the fact,

The conflict was called the Seven Years' War. And, in part due to Deon's work, the French army would be fighting alongside their new Russian allies. So the Seven Years' War in Europe is

France and Austria and Russia and a lot of other smaller countries against Prussia with the largely financial support of England. England is the financial backer of Prussia. So that's the Seven Years' War. The Seven Years' War was brutal and bloody and claimed around a million lives.

There isn't a great deal of information known about Deon's role in the war, but records show that they were sent to the front lines. And at that time, the records still refer to Deon as a man. What we do know is that near the conclusion of the Seven Years' War, Deon is sent to the front and he is regarded as a military hero. His heroism is lauded.

Bram Stoker wrote the following about Daon's contributions on the battlefield: "Daon threw himself with his accustomed zeal into the service of the army and distinguished himself by his courage in the battles of Hurt, of Ulltrop , of Ironbeck , and of Osterkirk , where at the head of eighty dragoons and twenty hussars he overthrew a battalion of the enemy."

And it is because of these efforts that Dyon was awarded a prestigious accolade. Dyon was now a chevalier.

the French term for knight. He also is awarded a very important medal for their military heroism. And so, d'Aon, for the rest of his life, will hark back to these moments as evidence of, again, his patriotism, his real sacrifice for France, his activity for the French monarch.

But while Déon's personal fortunes may have been on the rise, his country was not faring so well. The Seven Years' War was a disaster for France. Rather than gaining power and influence, France's empire was weakened. And, to add salt to the wounds, England was the winner. The French's biggest adversary took control of key French colonies and advanced their empire.

And it was now, at this crucial point in French history, that Déon would once again work for the king's secret. And this time, they'd be doing it on English shores. That's because Déon was sent to England with the Duke de Nivernais,

a high-ranking French diplomat, to negotiate peace with the English. "Déon goes to England with an official charge and an unofficial charge. Déon goes to England assigned by the French Foreign Ministry to aid the Duc de Nivernais in preparing what will become the Peace of Paris 1763. In other words, to prepare and negotiate

But Déon has an ulterior motive too. Because France was not going to accept English supremacy without a fight. That's where the king's secret comes in. Under the command of a distinguished military general named Victor de Broglie, Déon had another mission: plan a French invasion.

He's working for the Count de Broglie within what we've been calling the King's Secret. And there, Broglie wants Dyon to go up and down the coast of England and to really map out for the French where England might be vulnerable to an invasion.

Where do they have their defenses? Where is the navy housed? To actually do secret reconnaissance trips so that the French court has a very good idea of the military strength on the coast of England because Broglie very much wants to talk. So at exactly the same moment that France is signing a peace treaty with England,

There are these secret parts of the French government directed by King Louis XV himself that are exploring how and when a revenge attack could take place. And that is what Daon is basically in charge of. There was a lot on the line here, for France and for Daon. French pride was at stake, and they wanted to hit back at their old enemy.

But at the same time, there was a lot at stake for Deon. Because if they were discovered spying behind enemy lines, the consequences would be severe. If the Brits had become aware of Deon spying, absolutely he could have been tried, convicted and killed. Yes. Yes. As part of Deon's role as a double agent, they used their roots in Burgundy to gain favor with the English nobility.

In this period, Dayon began importing cases of wine, which would be gifted to influential people. According to historical records, Dayon was a popular figure in England, no doubt partly due to the contents of their cellar. But ultimately, the plans for an invasion came to nothing, and France and England signed their peace treaty. At this point, Dayon's career as a spy takes a back seat. Now they want to pursue loftier ambitions.

Dayon wants to become a legitimate diplomat. No more subterfuge. A handsome official residence. With the signing of the peace treaty 1763, Nivernais returns to Paris. Dayon stays in London as the temporary ambassador from France to London. And Dayon's now, what, in his 30s?

What he wants, what he expects is that he will be named the permanent ambassador to London. I mean, why not? And he's done a great job. Nobody has said he hasn't done a great job, but he doesn't get the job. The job is given to a rival ambassador.

After being passed over for this job, Deon was involved in a series of public feuds with the new ambassador, the Comte de Gershi. The mudslinging involved a series of publications where Deon called their rival unfit for the job. Deon also claimed that Gershi tried to drug them, and there was more damage to Deon's reputation. By now, Deon had been importing French wine to England for years.

The wine had helped grease wheels and forge relationships. But Daon was bringing so much wine across the channel that people began to get suspicious of their intentions.

But Dyon imports so much French wine that the government can't ignore it, doesn't ignore it. And they basically accuse Dyon of establishing a side business. Oh my God, barrel after barrel of Burgundian wine, you're now engaging in commercial trade. I mean, this isn't private.

And so they start threatening with coming down on him if he doesn't restrict his wine importation. Finally, the French government had had enough of the public embarrassment. So the French Foreign Ministry issue an official recall to Deon saying, "Get your derriere back here in Paris. Now. That is an order. It's an order for the king." It was an order that Deon refused.

they would not return to France. Instead, they continued to live in England as an exile. Furthermore, Déon essentially blackmailed the French government when they threatened to reveal details of the planned French invasion of England. So using that leverage, Déon was able to live as an outlaw for a number of years. Incredibly, despite this drama, Déon continued to work for the King's secret.

Remember, the organization existed outside and above the French state. While the outrage back in France was very real, it also provided Déon with the ultimate cover story: "If I'm ostracized by France, how could I possibly be a spy?" And so, for a number of years, Déon kept passing up-to-date intelligence from the English court back to their native France.

Dayon continued their work as a spy until 1774. When King Louis XV dies and his grandson, Louis XVI, ascends to the throne, and Louis XVI at that point

very young, he's in his 20s. It's the first time he learns about Broglie actually writes him a long memoir, taking him through the history of the King's secret. And Louis XVI is shocked and just says, let's close this down. I want everyone retired. Everyone's going to be given a pension and retired for life. And I don't want anyone ever to hear about this.

And that is what happens. And it's only in the French Revolution when Democrat ministers in the French Revolution, French revolutionaries, discover the papers of Louis XV and Louis XVI and see these orders from Louis XVI.

that the public learns about the King's secret for the first time. So the King's secret was basically left a secret for the entire old regime. And Louis XVI successfully shuts it down. When it comes to Deon's legacy as a spy, Gary Cates is clear that they were a huge asset to French foreign interests during the time period they were active.

I think d'Aon was a very successful French spy in England who did exactly what the King's Secret and Louis XV wanted him to do. For those who harbored plans of renewed French fighting and an invasion of England, they were instrumental.

So I would say Dayon was in their own way a remarkably successful spy. It is around this time that Dayon's gender was first called into question. Initially, it appears that it was a way for Dayon's rivals to discredit them. In his essay on Dayon, Bram Stoker wrote the following:

During this time, one of the means employed with success by his enemies to injure the reputation of Deon was to point out that he had passed himself as a woman, the disguise he wore on his first visit to Russia. His clean-shaven face, his personal niceties, the correctness of his life all came to the aid of that supposition. In England, bets were made and sporting companies formed for the purpose of verifying his sex.

Here's Gary Cates. Rumors become public that Dayonne is actually a woman. This renegade diplomat now living in London. And the rumors go, what we would call today, they go viral. And at the London Stock Exchange, and we have to remember that at that time, the Stock Exchange was also a forum for gambling.

And so there are bets taken out at the stock exchange as to whether Dayon is a man or a woman. And Dayon themself is offered a lot of money to strip in front of witnesses. Dayon ultimately refused to strip, and no bets were settled. But rumors and intrigue kept swirling. What was the truth?

Daon appeared to give everyone the answer when they started to present as female and claimed to have been assigned female at birth. Now, there is a lot of scholarly debate as to why Daon chose to do this. Some say that Daon seized upon the rumors and used it as an opportunity to gain forgiveness for all of the drama and disgrace they'd caused.

As one contemporary scholar wrote, it was necessary to find a way of sparing the family he had offended the insult they would see in his return. He was therefore made to resume the costume of that sex to which in France everything is pardoned. So, in short, if Déon returned to France as a woman, they would not have to answer for their actions. All would be forgiven. All the wine, all the drama.

But not according to Gary Cates. Gary believes that Dayon's transition has a much deeper meaning. Dayon comes to understand that political life itself, the life of a diplomat and a spy, is always immoral everywhere. It is literally unchristian. And once he comes to that understanding,

existential reality, his path through it to redeem themselves is to live the rest of his life as a woman. And his model here is ironically Joan of Arc. I say ironically because Joan of Arc

was a French patriot who was burned at the stake for wearing men's clothes. If you actually look at the indictment against Joan of Arc, it's not the role Joan of Arc plays in the Hundred Years' War, it's the cross-dressing. So it's interesting from a lot of different levels why they own picks on Joan of Arc.

It's the moral crisis aspect that is expressed through a religious language that is the language of evangelical Christianity, of what has happened to their own soul, what political life does to men's souls.

that anyone like Daon ought to live as a woman. It's a form for Daon of moral purification. In any case, King Louis XVI granted Daon's request to come home, officially recognizing them as a woman, and even providing funds for the Chevalier to buy a wardrobe of women's clothes.

Around the time of the French Revolution, Déon returned to England, where the British government also legally recognized their change of gender. And it was during this period that they began to have money problems. Déon's pension was stopped by the French revolutionaries. No more monarchy meant no more pension for French nobles like Déon. And to survive, they were forced to sell off their possessions and take part in fencing exhibitions.

During one of these exhibitions, Dayon was badly injured. They lived out their remaining years practically penniless and living with a female roommate named Mrs. Coles. Mrs. Coles had no idea that there was even any suggestion that Dayon had ever presented as male. It's her understanding that they are two women living out their twilight years together. In 1810, at the age of 81, Dayon died.

And fittingly, their death kicked off another chain reaction of intrigue and drama. — Daon is living with a female roommate, and the female roommate realizes when Daon is not getting up from Daon's bed, realizes that Daon has died. And in laying out the body,

the roommate discovers that Dawn has a penis. The roommate thought that she had been living with a woman for all these years. It turns out that this person

has a normal penis and scrotum. And so she shrieks and is mortified and immediately wants this verified. And so seven, eight, a group of men, professionals, some from the government, some medical, some legal, a couple surgeons, they come into the room

And they basically confirm that de Jong's body is male, was male. And that's what goes into the newspapers and again shocks the European public, the British public. The shock and column inches was an appropriate epilogue for de Jong. The initial reaction was that they were a huckster, a trickster who fooled everyone, a great imposter.

But over the years, interpretations have changed. From that time, if I can just move forward from there, from maybe 1810 to 1900, if you picked up

A biography or a story in a newspaper about Deon, it would be some version that Deon was a great con man. He led a life in which he lied to everyone, a trickery. He masqueraded as the other gender just to put on the greatest hoax in history. He was that kind of a provocateur.

Then in the period that begins in the 1890s and goes right through World War II, there is a rich reflection on Dayon's sexuality. And Aeonism in the 1930s is coined by a German writer.

writer to mean what we might call today trans or transsexual. In today's context, Dayon's legacy is now revered. The Beaumont Society, a support group for the transgender community, was named in honor of Dayon. And they are understood to be a pioneer and an icon and so much more than a member of the French aristocracy, a knight, or even a spy.

If anything, Daon's trans status reflects an imaginary figure with enormous will and vision about erasing the gender barrier, erasing the borders among genders. And so Daon is rightly today thought of as a founder of the modern trans movement.

And I don't think that is in any way anachronistic or not understanding Daon's gender identity from an 18th century viewpoint. I think, in fact, it gets to the center of what Daon's gender transformation is really about. I'm Rhiannon Needs. Join us next week for another encounter with true spies.

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