Princess

2021

Created by Krishna for Duckie’s Princess show. Co-devised and performed by fencers and professional trans people Elijah W Harris and Tamir Amar Pettet.

Chevalier d'Eon (1728 - 1810) was a French diplomat, spy and local London celebrity who was often ridiculed for being half-man, half-woman. After living as both a man and a woman at different points in their life, they died as a woman. 

Today, trans identities are often seen as a new phenomenon, but that is far from the truth. Trans people have existed since the start of time, and have even been celebrated in many Indigenous cultures across the world before widespread colonialism. And the Chevalier was no exception. Whilst their story and existence is inspiring and bad ass (they’re credited with whistleblowing important diplomatic secrets. Excuse me, Chelsea Manning of the 18th century!), there are parts of their tale that are equally disconcerting. In 1771, bets were waged  on the their ‘true sex’ on the London Stock Exchange and they were depicted on playing cards used for gambling. To solve the public inquiry, their genitals were illustrated and circulated in the press after their death in 1810. They died poor despite their celebrity status.

This piece is grounded in d’Eon’s experience of entertaining with their fencing skills as a way to make some dosh after their pension was cut off at the start of the French Revolution. These ‘fencing exhibitions’ performed by d’Eon in women’s garb were attended by many. (One venue for their ticketed events was Horace Walpole's Strawberry Hill. D'Eon's original memoirs are still held in the library there to this day). This display of a gender non-conforming person ‘performing’ curiosity for cis people is reminiscent of how trans people are offered safety and social currency when we are seen as a form of entertainment, but rarely outside it. Fencing was to d’Eon, as Instagram is to trans celebs today: you use what you’ve got to make a living!