The King's Secret ( or in French) refers to the secret diplomatic channels used by King

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

during his reign. For a period of over twenty years, Louis XV split his diplomacy into official and secret channels, the latter designed to advance Louis XV's personal interests at times at odds with official French policy. Louis XV's secret diplomacy was born from the secret candidacy of the

Prince de Conti The title of Prince of Conti (French: ''prince de Conti'') was a French noble title, assumed by a cadet branch of the princely house of Bourbon-Condé. History The title derives its name from Conty, a small town in northern France, c. 35 k ...

to the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

throne, as he could not involve France in that while he was in the middle of the

War of Austrian Succession War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. The secret network originally employed 32 people, led initially by

Cardinal Fleury Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

and then by Charles-François de Broglie and Jean-Pierre Tercier. Famous agents included the

Chevalier d'Éon Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d'Éon de Beaumont or Charlotte-Geneviève-Louise-Augusta-Andréa-Timothéa d'Éon de Beaumont (5 October 172821 May 1810), usually known as the Chevalier d'Éon or the Chevalière d'Éon ( is t ...

Pierre de Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French polymath. At various times in his life, he was a watchmaker, inventor, playwright, musician, diplomat, spy, publisher, horticulturist, arms dealer, satirist ...

Charles Théveneau de Morande Charles Théveneau de Morande (9 November 1741– 6 July 1805) was a gutter journalist, blackmailer and French spy who lived in London in the 18th century. Bibliography * Hannah Barker, Simon Burrows (ed.), ''Press, Politics and the Public ...

and

Louis de Noailles Louis de Noailles, 4th Duke of Noailles (21 April 1713 in Versailles22 August 1793 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye) was a French peer and Marshal of France. He was the son of Françoise Charlotte d'Aubigné, niece of Madame de Maintenon, and a nephew ...

. The King's Secret was officially dissolved upon the king's death in 1774; however, in practice, it outlived its creator, and some of its agents were involved in bringing France (and its allies) into the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. A precursor to the King's Secret was in charge of the 1741 palace revolution in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

that brought to the throne

Empress Elizabeth Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian ...

. It included courtier

Jacques-Joachim Trotti, marquis de La Chétardie Jacques-Joachim Trotti, marquis de La Chétardie (3 October 1705 – 1 January 1759) was a French diplomat who engineered the coup d'etat that brought Elizaveta Petrovna to the Russian throne in 1741. In the course of his eventful career, La Che ...

and Elizabeth's personal physician

Jean Armand de Lestocq Count Jean Armand de L'Estocq (German: ''Johann Hermann Lestocq'', Russian: ''Иван Иванович Лесток''; 29 April 1692, in Lüneburg – 12 June 1767, in Saint Petersburg) was a French adventurer who wielded immense influence on the ...

References

* * Claude Faure. Aux services de la République : Du BCRA à la DGSE, Paris, Fayard, 2004, . * Warlin, Jean-Fred, ''J.-P. Tercier, l'éminence grise de Louis XV''. Paris: L'Harmattan, 2014 . 1745 establishments in France Political history of the Ancien Régime

Secret du Roi The King's Secret ( or in French) refers to the secret diplomatic channels used by King Louis XV of France during his reign. For a period of over twenty years, Louis XV split his diplomacy into official and secret channels, the latter designed t ...

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