Charles Genevieve d'Eon de Beaumont. (Chevalier d'Eon) 1728-1810

French Spy for King Louis XV. Part Two.

Later d’Eon was sent back to England this time as a French Minister, where his unique talent enabled him to gain access to secret plans and documents on England’s armies and coastal defences, King Louis XV planned to invade England and these documents that d’Eon had delivered to the palace at Versailles opened England right up for an invasion.

It was not all plan sailing for d’Eon who on occasions was still dressing as a woman in public, which lead to a growing speculation as to d’Eon’s real gender! On some occasions he would be ridiculed about his make up and wigs, this would only lead to one thing, a duel the only way a gentleman could gain satisfaction, d’Eon being a skilled swordsman dispatch several gentlemen in this manner, saving his honour and keeping everyone guessing about his gender.

In 1774 Louis XV died and the new King Louis XVI ordered the dashing d’Eon to return to France, but fearing for his life and reputation d’Eon demanded that France pay a considerable sum to him otherwise he would reveal all the correspondence between himself and King Louis XV then England would find out about the plan to invade and all would be lost. The new King sent over an agent to negotiate with d’Eon and soon he was on his way back to France, when he arrived he stepped off the ship dressed as woman, it was part of the agreement that d’Eon spent the rest of his life as a female, eight years later he was spotted riding through his country estate wearing his old Royal Dragoons uniform.

Returning to England d’Eon lost his vast fortune during the French revolution, so in order to survive he started a fencing school where the young English gentlemen would learn the secrets of swordsmanship from a woman! Though the skills of the swordsman were a masculine pursuit d’Eon always dressed as a woman while giving lessons at the school.

At the age of 81 on the 21st May 1810, d’Eon died, but the ridicule was not over for him, not just yet, for many of the English gentleman who d’Eon had instructed in the art of fencing had wagers on the gender of their teacher and so demanded satisfaction by having the body examined, many lost their wagers when finally it was revealed that d’Eon was in fact a man!

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