Francine Desmond
Code Name: Princess
Born: October 16, 1953, Seattle, WA, USA
Occupation: Intelligence Operative
🕒 Timeline
Francine Desmond was born in Seattle, Washington, to a computer scientist (her father) and an interior decorator (her mother). While her parents had hoped to have more children, they were unable to conceive following Francine’s birth. As a result, Francine became as much her father’s “son” as she is her mother’s daughter. She was raised with high standards of excellence, which led to both high competence and a bit of insecurity. She also developed a fiercely independent spirit and has a tendency toward overachieving.
Francine took some secretarial courses in high school, but her strongest abilities were in language. She excelled in French and also began learning some Japanese. She began college as a languages major with the intention to translate at the U.N., but during college developed an interest in international relations. She received her B.A. in that field from the University of Washington in 1975.
She is now fluent in French, Japanese, Dari, and Russian, and has functional capacity in Mandarin, German, Italian, and Amharic. She has basic communication skills in several other languages.
After college, Francine was admitted to the prestigious Carnegie Mellon Institute for Politics and Strategy, completing an M.S. in Strategic International Relations. The final semester of that program was completed in Washington, DC, allowing her to begin making contacts in the federal government. Upon graduation, she was offered a position with the State Department.
Seeking better opportunities for promotion, Francine transferred to the Agency as a field agent in April 1980. Shortly thereafter, she met Jonathan Stone and the two were soon romantically involved. Jonathan proposed on New Year’s Eve 1981, and they were scheduled to be married in June 1982. However, on the morning of the wedding, he was nowhere to be found. Francine was left nearly literally standing at the altar, and never got so much as a note or a phone call from him.
Francine was promoted to the Assistant Director of Field Operations in the Fall of 1983, working with and apprenticing under Billy Melrose.
In May 1987, Jonathan Stone came back into Francine’s life. Although they were both wary at the beginning, they rekindled their relationship and were engaged again that fall, around the same time she was partnered with junior agent Nancy “Zeta” Zusterakos.
Unfortunately, they didn’t marry this time, either; Jonathan was killed by the Ansar al-Safa terrorist group in early 1988. Francine did not handle the situation well, and was sanctioned for her behavior at work. Recognizing that she was no longer immediately promotable, Melrose instead assigned Francine and Zeta to the Q-Bureau following Lee and Amanda Stetson’s departures.
Francine Desmond was portrayed by Martha Smith.
Timeline
| October 16, 1953 | Born in Seattle, WA, USA |
| May 10, 1975 | B.A., International Relations, University of Washington |
| May 7, 1977 | M.S., Strategic International Relations, Carnegie Mellon University |
| June 1, 1977 | Begins working at the U.S. State Department |
| April 1, 1980 | Begins working for the Agency |
| June 26, 1982 | Left at the altar by Jonathan Stone |
| October 29, 1982 | Begins relationship with Lee Stetson |
| March 11, 1983 | Relationship with Lee Stetson ends |
| September 26, 1983 | Promoted to Assistant Director of Field Operations |
| May 8, 1987 | Rekindles relationship with Jonathan Stone |
| February 1, 1988 | Jonathan Stone is killed by Ansar Al-Safa |
| June 6, 1988 | Becomes Director of the Q-Bureau |