Charlotte Atkyns

Charlotte Atkyns (neé Walpole) (1757–1836) was an English actor and agent, foremost known for her attempts in rescuing the members of the former royal family of France from imprisonment during the French revolution.

Said to be related to British Prime Minister Robert Walpole, she enjoined a short career on the London stage in 1777-1779 before she married Sir Edward Atkyns and moved to France. After the outbreak of the French revolution, she was recruited as a spy and agent for the counterrevolutionary royalists by Louis de Frotté. Between 1791 and 1794, she was active as a spy in Paris. She became known for her attempts of trying to aid the members of the former royal family to escape from prison. In 1793, she made repeated attempts to try to help former queen Marie Antoinette on one occasion by visiting her in prison dressed as a national guard with the plan of changing clothes with her. She also tried to free the former royal children from the Temple. Her activities had no success despite her spending considerable sums of her fortune on her missions. By historians, Atkyns had often been described as an eccentric who was not taken seriously.