Russian old ceremonial portraits can speak too. Not all the bows and ruffles on the female figures depicted on the canvases indicate the desire of their owners to simply show off. The ceremonial is spoiled by the fact that it reflects the official position in society of this or that character of that time and therefore some details in the portraits correspond to the then existing provision on official ladies' attire. In fact, the first serious order of the imperial court, entitled "Description of Ladies' Attire for Arriving on Festive Days to the Imperial Court," came out only in 1834, but nevertheless, even before that time, everything was subject to strict etiquette. The table of ranks that existed for men in Imperial Russia to some extent extended to women, the so-called maids of honor.

Franz Xavier Winterhalter Portrait of Princess Tatiana Alexandrovna Yusupova, née Ribopierre 1858

Translated from the German maid of honor (Fraulein) - this is just an unmarried woman, girl or young lady, and also this is the junior court title for girls. But not everything is so simple in fact. There was a whole gradation of court titles for women, which depended on the marital status of the lady, and on the position of her husband in society, and on the personal preferences of empresses or grand duchesses. On the ceremonial portraits of all these ladies, we can recognize by the presence on their breasts or on the shoulder of special portlets or cipher monograms of those high persons in whose court staff they have the honor to be.

A small excerpt from L.E.Shepelev's book "Titles, uniforms and orders of the Russian Empire" will help us to understand all the variety of titles of Russian ladies.

A.P. Antropov Portrait of the Lady of State Anastasia Mikhailovna Izmailova 1759
(State Tretyakov Gallery)
Izmailova's dress is adorned with a portrait of Elizaveta Petrovna in diamonds - a sign of the empress's personal affection for her lady-in-waiting.

"There were ... several court honorary titles for ladies and maidens. Actually, in the Table of Ranks it was not about titles, but about ranks. All of them are indicated not in the main part of the Table, but in one of the explanatory "points" to it. The senior was considered the title of chief gofmeisterina ("has a rank above all the ladies"). Then came the actual ladies of state. Their rank went “behind the wives of actual privy councilors” (II class). Actual chamber maidens had a rank equal to that of the wives of the presidents of the collegiums (IV class). Finally, there were named gof ladies (they were equal in rank to the wives of foremen — V grade), gof maidens (they were equal in rank to the wives of colonels — VI grade) and chamber maidens. However, in practice, already in the second quarter of the 18th century. the somewhat supplemented and modified nomenclature of ladies' court ranks was applied: chief gofmeister, chamberlain, lady of state, chamber-maid of honor and maid of honor. The first four titles during the 18th century had only 82 persons.

The titles of gof-ladies and gof-maidens (gof-maids of honor) did not receive significant distribution. But from 1730 the titles of chambermaids (that is, chambermaids) began to be assigned, from 1744 - maids of honor, and from 1748 - gof-meisterines. The court staff of 1796 included the following ladies' ranks (again called here ranks): chief gofmeister, gofmeister, 12 state ladies and 12 maids of honor. Chamber-maids of honor (as well as chamber-junkers) were not provided for by the state of 1796. In the legal provisions on the court department, they were then mentioned only in 1834. The title of maid of honor was complained especially often. In 1881, out of 203 ladies who had court ranks, 189 were maids of honor; in 1914, respectively 280 and 261. Chamber-maids of honor and maids of honor could only be unmarried women. About a third of them belonged to titled surnames, and about half were daughters of persons who had court ranks and titles. Even in the middle of the 19th century. there are known cases of awarding the title of maid of honor to young girls.

In 1826 Nicholas I installed a set of maids of honor - 36 people. Some of the "complete" ladies-in-waiting were appointed to "be" under the empresses, grand princesses and grand princesses ... Many of them were constantly at the court (and often lived there). The maids of honor of the empresses were considered older than the maids of honor who were with the Grand Duchesses, and they, in turn, were older than the maids of honor of the Grand Duchesses. The ladies-in-waiting of the “highest court” did not carry out permanent duties. Many of them were on vacation for a long time (sometimes living outside the capital) and appeared at court only occasionally.

Several maids of honor (2-5) had a higher rank - chamber maid of honor. In the court hierarchy, they were fully equated with ladies of state. The latter made up the second largest group of court ladies. In 1914 there were 14 of them. As a rule, they are the spouses of major civil or military officials. Most of them belonged to noble surnames and were "cavalier ladies", that is, they had the Ladies Order of St. Catherine and some other awards. Many of them were on leave and appeared at court only on special occasions.

Neither the chambermaids, nor the ladies of state had any specific duties at court; they were not even obligated to take part in court ceremonies. The titles of Hofmeister and Ober-Hofmeister usually belonged to the ladies who held the court positions of the same name and were in charge of the court ladies' staff and the offices of empresses and grand duchesses. One of their duties was to introduce the ladies at the audience to the empresses. Since the 1880s. no one had these titles, and the corresponding positions were carried out by persons from among the state ladies, and at the courts of the grand duchess - even by ladies who had no court titles at all. The chamberlains, ladies of state and chamber-maids of honor shared the title - Your Excellency."

Diamond ciphers-monograms of Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Paul I (21); Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna, wife of Emperor Alexander I, combined with the monogram of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna (22); Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Alexander III (24)

Double cipher-monogram of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Nicholas II and Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Alexander III

And yet, just about what will help us in the future to easily "read" the Prussian ceremonial portraits of cavalier ladies: " In addition to the ceremonial dress, the court ladies had special insignia: chamberlains, ladies of state, chamber-maids of honor - miniature portraits of empresses, surrounded by diamonds, worn on the right side of the chest, and the maids of honor - gold, diamond-sprinkled ciphers (monograms of the empress or grand duchesses, in which maids of honor consisted), crowned with a crown, worn on St. Andrew's blue ribbon on the left side of the corsage. The owners of the portraits were called "portrait ladies" in everyday life. "

Having dealt with all this, you can now easily examine the portraits and determine at which court this or that person depicted in the portrait was. Well, those who wish can try to do everything themselves, using the small gallery below.

Maids of honor of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna

(State Russian Museum)

Maids of honor of Empress Catherine II

Kraft the Elder Portrait of Natalya Alexandrovna Repnina, nee Princess Kurakina 1768

The reputation of the maid of honor of the Russian imperial court

The reputation of the lady-in-waiting was quite peculiar. Most of them did not consider themselves offended if the emperor or one of the great dukes flirted with any of them. Of course, this immediately became the subject of the hottest gossip, but everyone looked at these "adventures", quite traditional in the court environment, easily.

Among the maid of honor there were many girls who were fleeting or perennial hobbies of emperors and grand dukes. History has preserved a lot of names of these ladies-in-waiting.
Maid of honor Ekaterina Ivanovna Nelidova was a longtime favorite of Paul I. And her niece Varvara Arkadyevna Nelidova was a favorite of Emperor Nicholas I. The maid of honor of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (wife of Nicholas I) Countess E.F. Tiesenhausen gave birth to an illegitimate son (Count Felix Nikolaevich Elston) from the Prussian king Friedrich-Wilhelm IV. The maid of honor Kalinovskaya became the first youthful love of Alexander II. The brother of Tsarevna Maria Alexandrovna, Prince Alexander of Hesse, was forced to marry the maid of honor of Tsarevna Julia Gauka. By order of Nicholas I, the prince was immediately dismissed from the Russian service and forced to leave Russia. Maid of honor Julia Bode was removed from the Court for her love affairs with the Italian singer Mario and for other stories.

Countess Tyzenhausen Ekaterina Fyodorovna (Funny portrait by an unknown artist)

Most of the "stories" took place during the reign of Nicholas I, when the discipline in the Frailino corridor was quite tough. Maid of honor Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova became the morganatic wife of Emperor Alexander II. Alexander III, being Tsarevich, experienced a strong love interest for the maid of honor Meshcherskaya and even told his father that he was giving up the throne in order to marry her. In other words, there were a lot of "stories" in the Ladies' corridor of the Winter Palace. However, everything ultimately depends on the person. One of the ladies-in-waiting of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna allowed herself to advertise her "mad" passion for Emperor Nicholas I, fainting when he appeared.

M.E. Meshcherskaya

On the other hand, Alexandra Feodorovna had another maid of honor - Varvara Arkadyevna Nelidova, who was indeed a long-term mistress of Nicholas I, but at the same time, according to A.F. Tyutcheva, she was characterized by a modest and almost stern manner of behaving, in comparison with other courtiers. " She carefully concealed the grace that is usually shown off by women who take advantage of a position like her ... She was carried away by a sincere, albeit sinful, feeling, and none of those who condemned her could deny her respect when, on the day after the death of Emperor Nicholas, she sent the 200,000 rubles that he left her to her invalid capital. by will, and finally retired from the world».

Julia Gauke, later Princess von Battenberg

The ladies-in-waiting were very different, and the “women's collective” of the Frailinsky corridor differed little from the “women's collective” of some modern accounting department. And also protectionism led to the fact that many residents of the Freilinsky corridor were not distinguished by special good deeds. Anna Tyutcheva left a note in her diary (July 30, 1853): “ One might think that we were not among the Russian court, but rather, in the workshop of grisettes; I was amazed at the bad upbringing of these ladies».

Anna Fedorovna Tyutcheva

Life is a difficult thing, and although both sides perfectly understood the futility of such relationships, nevertheless, love does not choose its victims. Therefore, the walls of the Ladies' Corridor of the Winter Palace have witnessed many human dramas.
Considering these "risks" of the maid of honor, the empresses sometimes preferred to see maids of honor in their immediate surroundings, who did not shine with either beauty, or freshness, or the charm of youth. Anna Tyutcheva explained why she was preferred over many other applicants as follows: “ Other maids of honor of the Empress who came out of St. educational institutions, gave rise to scandalous gossip ... I was chosen as a prudent, serious and not particularly beautiful girl».
But ... reading Tyutcheva's quotes, one should not forget that even her contemporaries considered her to be too straightforward, sharp, sharp on the tongue, and having a "nasty character." So some of her remarks can be easily divided by 16.
One thing is clear - being a maid of honor and maintaining balance was very difficult.

The source of information- "Children's world of imperial residences. Life of monarchs and their entourage" I. Zimin

Maid of honor

The fates of the ladies-in-waiting were sometimes very bizarre, and this unpredictability, in part, was due to their closeness to the imperial family. In this respect, the biography of the maid of honor of the last Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Sofia Orbeliani, is quite remarkable.

A feature of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was a clear division of the people around her into "us" and "strangers."

"Friends" were among her personal friends, as far as possible given her position. We must pay tribute to the Empress, she was faithful to her friends to the end. Literally. The fate of the maid of honor Sonia Orbeliani is very indicative in this respect.

Frailina S. I. Orbeliani

Sonya Orbeliani was born in 1875. She was the only daughter of Prince Ivan Orbeliani and Princess Maria Svyatopolk-Mirskaya. The degree of influence of this family is evidenced by the fact that the mother's brother served as the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Empire in 1904-1905, that is, he held one of the most influential ministerial posts in the bureaucratic structure of the Russian Empire. Sophia's father came from an ancient Caucasian aristocratic family.

Sonya Orbeliani inherited independence and fearlessness from her Caucasian ancestors. This was manifested in various semi-sports entertainments at the Court of the young empress, first of all, she was an excellent horsewoman, she was distinguished by her cheerful and open character. Like many young aristocratic women, Sonya had an excellent command of foreign languages, drew well, danced well and was richly gifted in music: she played the piano well, sang well.

In 1898 the maid of honor Princess M. Baryatinskaya got married. In the entourage of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, a vacant position of the "regular" maid of honor appeared. The new appointment took place as a result of a latent struggle of influences at the Court. Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, a childhood friend of Nicholas II, who was married to his younger sister Xenia, who was then close to the imperial family, proposed the 23-year-old Sonya Orbeliani for the vacant position. He believed that a cheerful and independent girl, not involved in court intrigues, would be the ideal companion for the painfully withdrawn empress. As a result of complex, multi-pass combinations, Sonya Orbeliani took the place of the staff maid of honor in 1898.

The new maid of honor, small in stature, fair with regular features, was distinguished by an extraordinary mind. Baroness Sophia Buxgewden noted in her memoirs that Orbeliani, at the same time, had a wonderful sense of humor and was able to evoke love for herself, everyone who came into contact with her.

One of his contemporaries recalled that Orbeliani “was a great athlete, she rode wonderfully and played great tennis. He was a real lively man, cheerful, always on the move, always ready for anything, where he could show his dexterity and dashing ”247.

After the "Smotrin", Sonya was appointed as a lady-in-waiting for Alexandra Feodorovna. The current entourage of the Empress reacted very jealously to the "new girl". The head of one of the divisions of the imperial guard A.I. Spiridovich called her "an uncultured girl from the Caucasus", but at the same time noted her cheerfulness, diluting the lean court atmosphere. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna quickly became attached to the new maid of honor, which was to a large extent promoted by Sonya's "eastern devotion" to her new mistress. And the Empress was very sensitive and, as a rule, unerringly guessed this sincere devotion, so rare among the court aristocracy, and all the more appreciating it. According to the memoirs of Countess Buxgewden, Sonya allowed herself to tell the empress the truth in the eyes, no matter how bitter she was.

Young women often spent half a day together, playing four hands on the piano. Very quickly Sonya became the empress's closest confidante. At the suggestion of the Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, Sonya tried to overcome the tragic isolation of the empress in traditional ways. She arranged musical evenings in the empress's half, inviting the female elite of the capital to them. Sometimes the Empress herself played at these impromptu concerts.

In October 1903, the maid of honor Sonia Orbeliani accompanied the imperial family to Darmstadt, where they attended the wedding of Alexandra Feodorovna's niece, Alice of Battenberg and George the Greek, with whom Nicholas II had been closely acquainted since the travel of 1891.

During this visit, Sonya fell ill. She had a fever and the empress, despite the abundance of official and unofficial events, visited her friend two or three times a day, who was treated by the court doctors of her brother, the Duke of Hesse of Darmstadt. Such attention of the empress to her maid of honor was perceived by many in her environment as a violation of court etiquette.

It was German doctors who came to the conclusion that Sonia Orbeliani was terminally ill. In the future, she was expected by a gradual limitation of mobility, a wheelchair, and then complete paralysis and death. Knowing these prospects, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, nevertheless, did not leave her sick maid of honor. Sonya Orbeliani was settled in the Alexander Palace, which since 1905 became a permanent imperial residence. On the second floor of the Svitskaya half (right wing) of the Alexander Palace, she was given an “apartment” of three rooms (No. 65, 66 and 67).

Alexandra Fyodorovna covered all the expenses for her treatment and maintenance. For the empress, a rather stingy woman, this meant a lot. Naturally, for health reasons Sonya was not able to fulfill the duties of a lady-in-waiting, but Alexandra Feodorovna refused to accept her resignation. Figuratively speaking, Orbeliani retained her “staff rate”. For the sick lady-in-waiting “special carriages and other devices were designed so that she could lead ordinary life as if she were healthy and could accompany the empress everywhere on her trips ”248.

The Empress visited Sonya at the Alexander Palace every day. The high society, strict to the empress, condemned this manifestation. human feelings... According to A.I. Spiridovich, the reproaches boiled down to the fact that it was absolutely not useful for the imperial daughters to live next to a dying woman. But Alexandra Feodorovna, in her usual arrogant manner, coldly ignored all the reproaches.

At the same time, one should not exaggerate the empress's affection for her maid of honor. Of course, as a person, and even more so as an empress, she behaved very dignified. But life went on and next to the empress a new friend appeared - Anya Vyrubova. How the "changing of the guard" took place is evident from the published diary entries of Nicholas II.

Throughout 1904 Sonya Orbeliani was invited to the imperial table only twice (March 23 for breakfast and April 28 for dinner). It should be noted that very few "full-time" maids of honor were honored with such an honor. At the same time, at the end of November 1904, under Alexander Fedorovna, a new "full-time" maid of honor appeared - Baroness Sofia Karlovna Buxgewden, to whom Sonia Orbeliani began to "hand over the business."

On September 22, 1905, “A.A. Taneev ”, as Nicholas II wrote in his diary. But this autumn of 1905 Sonia Orbeliani was still invited to the table (for dinner - October 9, November 15, November 27). At the beginning of 1906, everything remained the same, Orbeliani was invited to dinner (February 7, March 14, July 3, August 28). On October 21, 1906, the old and new friends almost crossed paths. On this day “A.A. Taneeva "had breakfast, and" Sonya Orbeliani "with Princess Obolenskaya had dinner. After that day, Sonia Orbeliani was no longer invited to the table. Since November 23, 1906, its place has been firmly occupied by "Anya Vyrubova", as the emperor begins to call her in his diaries.

Nevertheless, Sonya, as best she could, tried to be useful to the empress. While she was able, she performed maid of honor. After she finally took to her bed, she sorted out the empress's numerous correspondence. Over time, she transferred her duties to Sonya Buxgewden and dedicated her to all the nuances of the relations of the court world of Tsarskoye Selo. They became friends, and S. Buxgewden spent a lot of time in her rooms.

For nine long years the empress did everything to make life easier for the dying maid of honor. During this time, a lot has changed in the life of the empress. A new soulful friend, Anna Vyrubova, appeared, but the empress did not forget her old friend, once and for all numbered among her “friends”. It is noteworthy that few knew about this relationship. Rasputin and Vyrubova completely overshadowed Orbeliani in the eyes of the idle world. For the capital's high society, she died a long time ago. When in December 1915 the doctors announced that the end was near, Alexandra Feodorovna did not leave her dying friend. Sonya Orbeliani died literally in the arms of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

The Empress took care of the funeral of the maid of honor. At the funeral service, Alexandra Feodorovna was present in the form of a sister of mercy. Maid of honor S.K. Buxgewden testified that she saw the Empress, sitting at the coffin of her friend, stroking her hair in the last minutes before the coffin was closed.

Maid of honor S.K. Buxgewden

Another lady-in-waiting, who became quite close to the imperial family, was Sofia Karlovna Buxgewden. She first appeared in the Alexander Palace on November 28, 1904. But only in 1913 she entered the so-called “inner circle” of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. This is evidenced by her nickname Iza. The maid of honor mentions that she lived in the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoe Selo from 1913 to 1917, and her “room was connected by a corridor with the apartments of the Grand Duchesses” 249.

She was a tall, rather thick, dark-haired, not very attractive woman. She had her own weakness - Sofia Karlovna smoked a lot. But at the same time, she shared Nicholas II's hobby for tennis and went kayaking.

S.K. Buxgewden could win over and, what is especially important, was sincerely loyal to the imperial family, loyal "without flattery." She was, perhaps, the only lady-in-waiting, privy to the family secrets of the royal family. It should be noted that Alexandra Fyodorovna was quite careful in dealing with her maids of honor, because she understood that, first of all, serve in a palace. S.K. Buxgewden mentions that Alexandra Feodorovna “considered it unacceptable to enter into friendly relations with her ladies-in-waiting, because it seemed to her that the special sympathy expressed by one of them could cause a feeling of jealousy in the other ... There was always a certain distance between us and the empress, which no one it was allowed to go over. Only when her ladies-in-waiting ceased their service at the Court (this was the case with Princess Baryatinskaya or Sonya Orbeliani, who became disabled) the empress could allow herself to express to them the disposition that she always felt towards them ”250.

A. Vyrubova and S. Buxgewden

The empress also allowed some "opposition" to "hers". Isa Buxgewden had a negative attitude towards Rasputin. This was not a secret for the empress. But she knew that Iza would not betray her, and no rumors would come from her.

The Empress was not mistaken in her maid of honor. Isa Buxgewden followed the royal family to Siberia and only miraculously survived. Borrowing money from Sidney Gibbs, she managed to cross Siberia and through China to get to England, which became her second home. In the 1920s. she wrote two books about her life in Tsarskoe Selo. She dedicated another book to her royal friend, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, in which she refuted many legends that saturated the public consciousness of that time. At the same time, she did not fall into a simple praise of the Empress. She, perhaps, was the first to create an objective and honest portrait of the last Russian empress, a complex and contradictory woman.

Frailina A.A. Vyrubova

Anna Aleksandrovna Vyrubova, nee Taneeva, was born in 1884 into an influential family of aristocratic officials. Her grandfather (Taneev Sergei Alexandrovich) and father (Taneev Alexander Sergeevich) for 44 years headed His Imperial Majesty's Chancellery and had the right to report personally to the Emperor.

The first time A.A. Taneeva saw the empress in 1896 at the age of twelve, when the royal family was staying in the village of Ilyinskoye, the estate of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich near Moscow, who was married to the elder sister of Alexandra Feodorovna, Elizaveta Fedorovna. At the age of 17, she was officially introduced to the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. From that time on, her social life began. It should be noted that Anya was not a beauty. She was a plump girl with kind eyes, who sang and played the piano beautifully. At the age of eighteen, in January 1903, she received the maid of honor of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, covered with diamonds - the dream of many aristocratic girls. Then, in February 1903, Anya Vyrubova took part in the legendary costume ball in the Winter Palace. Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna wore the clothes of the Russian tsars of the 17th century. The aristocracy, in accordance with the position occupied, shone with boyar clothes. Then no one knew that this ball would be the last magnificent ball in the Winter Palace. And this was the first appearance of the "debutante" Ani Taneeva.

Extensive contacts and the strong position of the Taneev family at the Court allowed Anna in February 1905 to find herself in the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoye Selo among the "regular" maids of honor of Alexandra Feodorovna. She was then 20 years old, and the empress was 32 years old. Taneyeva then "replaced" one of the sick ladies-in-waiting 251.

While on duty in the palace, at the request of Alexandra Feodorovna, Anya Taneeva spent time with the lady-in-waiting S. Orbeliani. Vyrubova recalled that Orbeliani developed progressive paralysis and her character became very difficult. She often made fun of the young and blooming maid of honor.

During her first watch, A. Taneeva saw the Empress only once, when she rode a sleigh with her along the alleys of Alexander Park. In memory of her first watch, the Empress presented the maid of honor with a medallion: a gray heart-shaped stone surrounded by diamonds 252.

Imp. Alexandra Fedorovna and A. Vyrubova. 1910 g.

At first, Anya Taneeva was appointed only a "temporary" maid of honor, replacing one of the sick staff maids of honor, but in a short time she managed to please the empress. She liked it so much that in August 1905 she was invited to sail to the Finnish skerries on the imperial yacht "Polar Star". During this voyage A. Taneeva became close to all members of the royal family: “Every day we went ashore, walked in the forest with the Empress and the children, climbed rocks, picked lingonberries and blueberries, looked for mushrooms, and explored paths” 253. This trip decided the fate of the lady-in-waiting. According to Vyrubova: "The Tsar said to me, saying goodbye at the end of the voyage:" Now you are subscribed to ride with us, "and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna said:" I thank God that He sent me a friend. " 254 As a result of this trip, “my friendship with the Empress began, a friendship that lasted twelve years” 255.

Alexandra Feodorovna was passionately fond of music, sang well. The Empress had a contralto of 256, Anya Taneeva had a high soprano. They began to sing a duet, play the piano "four hands". But the main thing is the character of Ani Taneeva. She constantly demonstrated to the Empress her endless adoration and devotion. Every person needs this. Alexandra Fedorovna also needed this.

Imp. Alexandra Fedorovna and A. Vyrubova on the banks of the Dnieper

Alexandra Fyodorovna's life was not cloudless. Shy to the point of painful isolation, by the nature of her "profession" she had to constantly meet with many strangers and communicate with them. She passionately loved her husband and did not want to share him with either her mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, or with influential dignitaries. Brought up in England, where the position of the monarch was determined by the formula - "I reign, but I do not rule" - she was a passionate champion of the idea of ​​autocratic power. Being a Protestant until the age of 22, she was imbued with the extreme, mystical ideas of Orthodoxy. Only after the sixth pregnancy, she was finally able to give birth to an heir, but it immediately became clear that he was terminally ill and could die at any moment. She endlessly needed sincere friendship, which was very difficult to find in the hypocritical environment in which she passed her life. Alexandra Feodorovna believed and accepted Anya Taneeva's sincere affection.

Anya's service as a “temporary maid of honor” did not last long, 257 but the empress remembered the young, ingenuous, sincere girl. This was what she needed so badly.

Therefore, the next summer of 1906, Anya Taneeva was again invited to take part in a voyage across the Finnish skerries on the imperial yacht Shtandart. The capital's elite, who were extremely jealous of the appearance of new favorites, immediately noted this repeated invitation, since at the "Standart" the royal family was surrounded only by the people closest to it.

Joint rest brings together, as well as joint affairs. It was then that Anya Taneeva finally became “her own” in the closed world of the royal family. She made friends with her older daughters - Olga and Tatiana, who grew up without friends. She amused herself with the younger ones - Maria and Anastasia. She learned about the heir's incurable disease. She received, like many of "her own", an unpretentious nickname Cow. She was not offended, since the empress herself called herself the Old Chicken. Vyrubova was complete and, of course, did not fit into the existing canons of beauty. This is also a plus. Later she was introduced to Grigory Rasputin, to whom she was imbued with awe. It also worked in her favor.

In turn, the royal family took part in the life of Ani Taneeva. For the 22-year-old girl, not without the participation of Alexandra Fedorovna, they selected the appropriate party. Anya Taneeva's fiancé was naval lieutenant Alexander Vasilyevich Vyrubov. By this time, significant events had taken place in his life. He was among the four officers who miraculously escaped from the battleship "Petropavlovsk". This battleship, on the captain's bridge of which was the commander of the Pacific Fleet Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov, was blown up by a mine and sank in a few minutes while trying to break through from the blocked harbor of Port Arthur in 1904 during Russo-Japanese War... Naturally, the young sailor wore heroes.

The young were married. In December 1906 Vyrubov made an offer by letter from the village. Anya Taneeva consulted with the Empress and she approved the "party". In February 1907 the wedding was announced. The wedding of the maid of honor Anna Alexandrovna Taneeva with Lieutenant Alexander Vasilyevich Vyrubov took place on April 30, 1907 in the highest presence in the church of the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace 258.

A. Vyrubova and members of the imperial family. 1914 g.

From that moment on, Anna Vyrubova could no longer be a maid of honor, since only unmarried girls could be maids of honor. Anya Taneeva turned into Anna Aleksandrovna Vyrubova, and it was under this surname that she entered the history of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.

The presence of the imperial couple at the wedding was a very high honor for the newlyweds. Moreover, Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna personally blessed the young with an icon. After the wedding, the young "drank tea with Their Majesties", in a very narrow circle, since very few guests were invited to the wedding and they all passed the approval of Their Majesties 259.

The aristocratic elite immediately reacted to this with the first gossip. In the secular salons, they were surprised not only by the very fact of the imperial couple's presence at the wedding, but also by the active participation of Alexandra Feodorovna herself. It was said that during the wedding, the Empress sobbed as if she were marrying her daughter. But then, in April 1907, this was attributed to the costs of the emotional nature of the empress.

However, the family life of the young did not go well from the very beginning, and the marriage turned out to be short-lived. There was also Rasputin's gloomy prediction, which, of course, came true, and the sadistic, unnatural inclinations of the young lieutenant, and even his madness, suddenly revealed. Vyrubova herself wrote briefly about this, many years later: “The marriage brought me nothing but grief. The state of my husband's nerves was probably affected by all the horrors of the experience when the Petropavlovsk was sinking, and soon after the wedding he showed signs of a serious mental illness. At first I thought it was only a temporary condition, and I carefully concealed my husband's illness from my mother. But in the end, my husband was declared insane, was admitted to a medical institution in Switzerland, and I got a divorce. ”260.

This family drama was the impetus for the beginning of many events. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify a number of points. Firstly, personal drama did not prevent Ana Vyrubova from accepting an invitation to go on another voyage on the Shtandart to the Finnish skerries with the royal family in September 1907. It was then that rumors about an "unnatural" relationship between the Empress and Vyrubova began to circulate persistently for the first time.

A. Vyrubova next to the imp. Nicholas II

The fact is that during this voyage "Standart" ran into an underwater rock and almost sank, having received two holes in the hull. The royal family and her entourage was urgently transported to one of the ships of the convoy. A few months later, on February 2, 1908, the very knowledgeable General A.V. Bogdanovich, wrote in her diary 261: “Everyone is struck by the strange friendship of the young queen with her former maid of honor Taneeva, who married Vyrubov. When, during a trip to the skerries, the boat stumbled upon a stone, the royal family spent that night on the Alexandria 262 yacht. The tsar slept in the wheelhouse, and the tsarina took Vyrubova into her cabin, slept on the same bed with her ... ”263. At the same time, Bogdanovich also names his "source" - the captain of the 1st rank, assistant to the chief of the Main Naval Staff under the Naval Minister Sergei Ilyich Zilotti.

Apparently, Vyrubova was well aware of these rumors, and in her memoirs she found it necessary to dwell specifically on "who slept where and where." According to her, "the empress slept with the heir", Nicholas II and his retinue in the cabins upstairs. Later, the imperial family switched to the approached yacht.

"Alexandria". But even there it was very cramped, so Nicholas II slept in the wheelhouse on the sofa, the children were in a large cabin, except for the heir. Then came the Empress's cabin. Nearby was the heir's cabin, in which he slept with his nanny M. Vishnyakova. Vyrubova vaguely clarifies: “I slept next to each other in the bathroom” 264.

Second, after the divorce, in the fall of 1908, 265 Vyrubova immediately received an invitation from a royal friend to settle near the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo. As a personal friend. According to Vyrubova, they were already living with her husband by this time in Tsarskoe Selo, since the influential father of Vyrubova placed his son-in-law in the Palace Department. It is unlikely that the young husband could have liked the rumors about the intimacy of his wife with the empress. Perhaps it was then that the "sadistic" inclinations of the young lieutenant manifested themselves. Vyrubova wrote: “I did not have an official position. I lived with the queen as an unofficial maid of honor and was her close personal friend. She said: "There is at least one person who serves me for me, and not for a reward." 266 It should be noted that there were no such precedents in the history of the Imperial family, rich in scandals. And this decision of the Empress only contributed to the spread of "lesbian" gossip, which peaked in the second half of 1908-1910.

Thirdly, a few words must be said about the failed marriage. We know about the "sadism" and "perversions" of Alexander Vyrubov only from the memoirs of Vyrubova herself. There is practically no information about Alexander Vyrubov in the historical literature. It is only mentioned that from 1913 to 1917 the "pervert" and "crazy" Vyrubov was the district leader of the Poltava nobility. It should be noted that this was an elective position and it is unlikely that the Poltava nobles would have chosen a pervert and a sadist as their leader. They selected an officer in the Russian navy who had participated in the defense of Port Arthur. Now, of course, it is difficult to say what kind of "perversions" Vyrubova wrote about. But it is known for sure that there was no conjugal relationship between the young, and Vyrubova, after 18 months of marriage, remained a girl. Is it possible that the "sadistic perversions" boiled down to the fact that the lieutenant was simply trying to fulfill his marital duty? Or could he not fulfill it? Or was Vyrubova categorically against marital relations?

Livadia. Tea drinking at the farm. 1914 g.

Fourth, for 1907-1910. the time of the greatest influence of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers P.A. Stolypin on domestic policy Russia. He was a domineering person who did not want to share influence. Therefore, the rumors swirling around the empress and Vyrubova discredited one of the centers of power opposing Stolypin. A. A. Bobrinsky wrote about this in 1911 in his diary: “Empress Alexandra Feodorovna is not so ill as they say. It is beneficial for Stolypin to inflate her inability and illness, since it is unpleasant for him. The right-wingers will now defiantly expose the empress, otherwise, for the sake of, as it turns out, Stolypin, she was boycotted and hushed up, and replaced by Maria Fedorovna. They say that her lesbian relationship with Vyrubova is exaggerated. ”267

In the spring of 1917, the Provisional Government created an Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry in order to collect dirt on the tsar's family and its entourage. In this Commission, a special subcommittee was formed, which specialized in investigating the activities of the so-called "dark forces" that surrounded the royal family. Anna Vyrubova was undoubtedly included among these "dark forces". In March 1917 she was arrested

and placed in one of the cells Peter and Paul Fortress... In the summer of 1917, T. Vyrubova insisted that her gynecological examination be carried out. Such an unusual request from the prisoner is connected with the widespread accusations that she cohabited with Grigory Rasputin. The survey found that Vyrubova was a virgin 268.

In the "Conclusion of Doctor Manukhin, given on the basis of the results of a medical examination carried out in the Trubetskoy bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress," it is said that "she married for 22 years ... lived with her husband for only one year. According to her, her husband suffered from sexual impotence with a tendency to sadism; after one of the scenes, when her husband threw her naked on the floor and beat her, they parted; since then she has not lived a sexual life.

At the end of last year, due to her previous pains in the lower abdomen and in order to understand the cause of the disease of her right leg, she was asked to perform a genital examination; unexpectedly, for the production of a per vaginat study, it turned out to be necessary to incision her virgin pleura, since it was not completely disturbed by a weak husband; the witness of the above may be, according to her, the senior paramedic of the Palace Hospital in Peterhof Karaseva. Petrograd June 6, 1917 " 269.

Then it amazed many. But not the closest tsarist entourage, since the suite had known about Vyrubova's virginity since January 1915. After Vyrubova got into a train accident in January 1915, she was examined by Professor S.P. Fedorov. Subsequently, Colonel A.I. Spiridovich wrote that he was “amazed when the life surgeon Fedorov told me that while doing a medical examination of Mrs. Vyrubova with another professor as a result of a hip fracture, they suddenly became convinced that she was a virgin. The patient confirmed this to them and gave some explanations regarding her married life with Vyrubov. ”270

This fact is interpreted in different ways today. E. Radzinsky claims that, in his opinion, Vyrubova was undoubtedly a hidden lesbian. He suggests that the empress did not care about her friend's sexual orientation, she was only interested in her sincere affection. For Alexandra Fyodorovna, it doesn't matter what this affection was dictated to. It was important that this affection-love was vital for the neurasthenic empress, surrounded by universal ill will.

In our opinion, we can agree with this statement. Alexandra Feodorovna, with her characteristic maximalism, divided the whole world into “us” and “foes”. There were very few "friends", and she highly valued them. A woman, closed in very difficult family problems, carefully hidden from the eyes of strangers, really needed such a friend. And what kind of "orientation" it is - it's the tenth thing.

The end of 1907 was difficult for Alexandra Feodorovna. She was ill. The nature of the disease is not indicated in the medical documents, but judging by the number of visits, the medical problems turned out to be serious. From November 11 to 30, 1907, the doctor of the Palace Hospital of the Court Medical Unit, Doctor Fischer, paid the Empress 29 visits. From December 1 to December 21, he also visited the Empress 13 times 271. That is, only 42 visits. Apparently, these visits continued further, since the empress herself wrote to her daughter Tatyana on December 30, 1907: “The doctor has now given another injection - today in the right leg. Today is the 49th day of my illness, tomorrow will be the 8th week ”272. Since the empress wrote notes to her daughter, it can be assumed that she was isolated from the children. According to her account, the disease begins in early November 1907 Based on her memoirs and diary entries, it can be assumed that from 1906-1907. the Empress begins to have serious heart problems. But since these problems were not advertised, rumors began to superimpose on them about the empress's mental imbalance, which manifested itself in a "vicious connection" with Vyrubova.

The rumor about the empress's "lesbian connection" continued to spread in the second half of 1908. He was "fueled" by a divorce from Lieutenant Vyrubov. It was then that another rumor began to circulate that the fleeting marriage was supposed to simply “cover up” the “vicious connection” between Vyrubova and the Empress.

The citation of these rumors also needs comment. In June 1908 A.V. Bogdanovich wrote down, referring to the "source" - Princess D.V. Kochubei 273 that the reason for Vyrubova's divorce from her husband was that “the husband of this Taneeva, Vyrubov, found letters from her from the queen, which lead to sad reflections” 274. It is now known that the Empress did write huge and extremely emotional letters. That she was quite frank in them and, from the point of view of the layman, was careless. And the letters that Vyrubov found could well have taken place. And he could misinterpret their content. Later, a similar thing happened. In 1912, letters from Alexandra Feodorovna to Rasputin fell into the hands of the Duma opposition. There, too, there were ambiguous phrases that allowed the opposition to immediately launch gossip that the empress was unfaithful to her husband, Emperor Nicholas II. Apparently, the empress drew conclusions from these stories and in March 1917, according to Vyrubova: “The empress destroyed all the letters and diaries dear to her and burned with her own hand in my room six boxes of your letters to me(emphasis mine .- AND. Z.) "275.

In September 1908, Vyrubova again traveled on the Shtandart. It was from this time that political influence on the royal family began to be attributed to her. The inner circle is forced to reckon with her. A.V. Bogdanovich had very reliable "sources" who could observe not only the official, but also the unofficial side of the life of the imperial family. These were the personal valets of the tsar - N.A. Radzig 276 and N.F. Shalberov 277, they regularly visited the salon of A.V. Bogdanovich and shared the latest palace news with the hospitable hostess. Shalberov “was surprised that the tsarina loved such a" scoundrel "as Vyrubova so much that she both day and night with the tsarina" (entry of November 3, 1908) 278. A few days later N.A. Radzig said that he had seen a photograph of Vyrubova, where she was filmed “next to a man” who had “brutal eyes, the most disgusting, impudent appearance” (entry dated November 5, 1908) 279. The peasant, of course, was Grigory Rasputin.

But the final "diagnosis" in the relationship between Vyrubova and Alexandra Fedorovna was made by A. Bogdanovich at the end of November 1908. We must again admit that she had first-class "sources." On November 21, 1908, she wrote with reference to Zilotti that "the tsar is very nervous, that the reason for this is the tsarina, her abnormal tastes, her incomprehensible love for Vyrubova" 280. We must pay tribute to the general's wife - she double-checked this information and, with reference to the palace commandant, Lieutenant-General Vladimir Alexandrovich Dedyulin 281, quoted him as saying that “adultery in Tsarskoe Selo” 282.

It should be noted another important event in the tsar's entourage, which took place in 1908. In 1907, the family doctor of the imperial family, life surgeon Gustav Ivanovich Girsh, died 283. As a result of complex undercover intrigues, Evgeny Sergeevich Botkin 284 became the new family doctor. This episode is important for us, because it shows the action of the mechanism for holding “our” people to positions close to the “family”. One of the important levers of this mechanism was the "silly", in the opinion of an idle secular society, Anya Vyrubova.

The final choice of the doctor was made personally by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, but “at the suggestion” of Vyrubova. A.A. Vyrubova wrote about this in her memoirs: “Her choice stopped at E.S. Botkin, a physician of the Georgievsk community, whom she knew from Japanese war, - she didn't want to hear about the celebrity 285. The Empress ordered me to call him to her and convey her will. Dr. Botkin was a very modest doctor and he listened not without embarrassment to my words. He began by putting the Empress in bed for three months, and then completely forbade her to walk, so that she was carried in an armchair around the garden. The doctor said that she had broken her heart, hiding her poor health ”286.

The candidacy of E.S. Botkin was supported by very influential forces. Among others, E.S. Botkina is his relative, the maid of honor of the Empress O.E. Byutsov. A.V. Bogdanovich, according to valet Shevich, wrote in his diary about the reasons for the appearance of a new doctor: “Former court doctor Fischer, who treated the queen, directly told the king in writing that he could not cure the queen until she was separated from Vyrubova. But this letter had no impact: Vyrubova remained, and Fischer was fired, and Botkin, Taneev's protege, was appointed to his place. ”287 It seems that Bogdanovich's version most fully shows the true reasons for the emergence of a new doctor, and the death of old Hirsch was only a pretext for this.

April 4, 1908 Chief Marshal P.K. Benckendorff sent a notice to the Minister of the Imperial Court Vladimir Borisovich Fredericks, in which he said that the Empress “wishes that, by the day of Holy Easter, the honorary physician-in-chief E.S. Botkin would have been appointed a physician to replace the late GI Hirsch ”288. On April 8, 1908, Frederick imposed the resolution "The Supreme Command to Fulfill."

After the appointment of E.S. Botkin to the post of physician-in-chief, the very nature of the provision of medical care to the empress changed. If before that Alexandra Feodorovna had a lot and willingly received treatment from the leading professors of the Military Medical Academy, then from 1908 she was limited to the services of one E.S. Botkin. This also did not go unnoticed. In May 1910 A.V. Bogdanovich wrote: “There was Rhine 289. About the young queen, he said that she was repeatedly offered to call him, but she rejects everything, does not want to show herself to a specialist. One must think that she has something secret that she does not dare to entrust, and knowing that an experienced doctor will understand what the matter is, rejects the help of specialists ”290.

It is known that memoirs and diary entries are, as a rule, subjective; therefore, the materials presented must be supported by archival, official documents. The most informative in the context of our topic are the daily reports of the Palace Police, in which all the movements of the royal persons and all their contacts were recorded in detail. Officially they were called "Diaries of the Departures of Their Imperial Majesties." Since the Palace police at that time performed the functions of the personal guard of the imperial couple, then these documents can be treated with unconditional confidence. Analysis of documents allows you to restore the documented canvas Everyday life the king and his family. We will use the records from 1910.

By this time, the Empress had developed her own daily routine. In the morning - classes with children and general prayer. Alexandra Fyodorovna preferred breakfast alone. This year she generally tried not to be in public, which is connected with her "sores" and with the peculiarities of her character. For example, on January 22, 1910, the Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna, the Tsar's younger brother, Grand Duke Mikhail and Prince Peter of Oldenburg, with his wife, the Tsar's younger sister, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, arrived from St. Petersburg for breakfast (at 1 pm). Only the family gathered, but the empress preferred to have breakfast separately. The guests did not stay long and left at 2:28 pm.

Such "unsociability" of the empress is associated with the aggravation of her diseases. Heart problems are mentioned in the diary of Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna: “Poor Niki is concerned and upset with Alike’s health. She again had severe pains in her heart, and she became very weak. They say that it is on a nerve lining, the nerves of the heart bag. Apparently, this is much more serious than people think ”291. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich then in 1910 wrote in his diary: “Between breakfast and reception, the Tsar took me to the Empress, who was still not recovering. For more than a year now she has had heart pains, weakness, neurasthenia ”292. For the treatment of the Empress, a soothing massage was actively used. Nevertheless, her illness did not prevent her from seeing Vyrubova on a daily basis.

This family situation probably did not suit the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. For the whole year, she saw her daughter-in-law only 4 times: three times in April 1910 during the visit to St. Petersburg of Alexandra Feodorovna's elder sister, Irene of Prussia, and once in May 1910 at official events related to the memorial service for the deceased English king. Twice during Maria Feodorovna's visits to Tsarskoe Selo, on January 22 and May 14 (ceremonial breakfast on the occasion of the next coronation anniversary, which was attended by 360 people), Alexandra Feodorovna preferred to stay in her apartment. This was explained by her illness. Alexandra Feodorovna herself visited St. Petersburg only 4 times in 1910. Moreover, once (April 8) she and her husband drove to the Winter Palace for 45 minutes and immediately left for Tsarskoe Selo. The rest of the visits to the capital were of a forced nature and were associated with official events and visits.

This year Alexandra Fyodorovna's social circle is very limited. On March 21 she visited elder sister- Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, April 23, Irena of Prussia arrived for the Empress's birthday, she stayed until May 9.

On the eve of the birthday of Nicholas II (from May 3 to May 6), all three sisters got together for the last time.

But in the first half of 1910, in the reports of the Palace Police, the name of Vyrubova was mentioned almost every day. Throughout January, the Empress and Vyrubova meet almost every day, spending half an hour on the New Terrace near the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, usually from 15 to 15.30. In February, the Empress sledges in the park, and Vyrubova accompanies her on foot, they ride in sleds around the city. Starting from the end of February 1910, in addition to daytime meetings, the daily routine also included nightly, but rather nighttime visits of the Empress to her friend. Usually Alexandra Feodorovna left the palace at 11 pm and came back after midnight. She adhered to this routine on very busy days. On April 24, the Empress, after morning prayer (11 a.m.), leaves for a short time to Vyrubova (from 11 a.m. to 11 a.m.), then goes with her sister to St. Petersburg, where she makes secular visits, and returns late in the evening. back to Tsarskoe Selo and again visits Vyrubova (from 2335 to 2425). And so day after day. Such, almost convulsive, attachment of Alexandra Feodorovna to Vyrubova, against the background of ignoring even obligatory official events, undoubtedly waited for unflattering rumors for the empress. All of them were connected with rumors about the empress's "morbid" infatuation and about her "lesbian connection" with Vyrubova.

One can, of course, assume that the empress's frequent trips to Vyrubova are connected with her regular meetings with Rasputin. But in the data of the external security, the name of the elder for this year is not mentioned at all, although all contacts of the royal family on a personal and official level were carefully monitored. But it is known from other sources that in 1910 both Alexandra Feodorovna and Nicholas II saw Rasputin several times. The tsar's diary for January and the first half of February 1910 mentions 10 such meetings. Nicholas II in his diary entries, as a rule, was very laconic, therefore he simply recorded the very fact of the meeting, sometimes indicating the time. On January 3, 1910, among the mentions of household chores on this day, the tsar recorded that “they saw Gregory between 7 and 8 o'clock” 293. Sometimes he mentioned that he had a long conversation with him.

House of A. Vyrubova in Tsarskoe Selo. 1910 g.

By the nature of the recordings, it can be argued that most of these meetings took place in the Alexander Palace. Apparently, the emperor forbade the official recording of these meetings. But it should be noted that the Empress went to Vyrubova's only one. In 1910, the police did not record a single joint trip of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna to Vyrubova's house.

A few words about Vyrubova's house. In 1908 Anna Vyrubova settled in Tsarskoe Selo in a small country house, literally a few steps from the imperial residence. This yellow and white dacha was built by the architect P.V. Nilov in 1805. Since it was a country house, it was very cold in winter. After 1917, this dacha was leased to the artist I. Ershov, who worked at the Leningrad Conservatory. From 1936 to German occupation in 1941 the house was used by the conservatory. Currently, this building houses the registry office of the city of Pushkin.

Speaking about the relationship between Alexandra Fyodorovna and Vyrubova, one should also touch on the “money issue”. A.A. Vyrubova, being a maid of honor, received 4,000 rubles. in year. Having lost her status after marriage, she became “just” a friend of the empress. However, this "position" was not paid. Therefore, A.A. Vyrubova found herself in a difficult financial situation. Her parents, of course, "fed" her, however, life under the monarchs was quite costly. Minister of the Imperial Household

V.B. Frederica tactfully made it clear to Alexandra Fedorovna that her friend had money problems. As a result, Alexandra Feodorovna began to give her friend dresses and fabrics for the holidays. This did not add to Vyrubova's money. Finally, a substantive conversation took place between the empress and her friend. According to A.A. Vyrubova, “she asked how much I spend a month, but exact figure I couldn't tell; Then, taking a pencil and paper, she began to calculate with me: salary, kitchen, kerosene, etc. It turned out 270 rubles. per month. Her Majesty wrote to Count Fredericks to send her this amount from the Ministry of the Court, which she gave me every first number. " V last years the empress paid for the dacha (2,000 rubles) Vyrubova 294.

On May 26, 1910, the royal family traditionally moved to Peterhof. However, the family's daily routine has hardly changed. Vyrubova also moved to Peterhof after the royal family. June 21, 1910 the royal family on the yacht "Alexandria" departs for a traditional vacation in the Finnish skerries. The unhurried voyage lasted long enough, and they returned to Peterhof only on July 19. The imperial family was accompanied by the indispensable Vyrubova. On August 15, 1910, the royal family departed abroad. The purpose of the trip was the treatment of Alexandra Feodorovna at the resort in Nauheim. According to A.A. Vyrubova, this trip was undertaken in the hope that "staying there will restore the empress's health." The treatment was not particularly effective and A.A. Vyrubova writes that upon her arrival in Nauheim, she "found the Empress thinner and tired of treatment." Nikolai Alexandrovich himself wrote in September 1910 to P.A. Stolypin from Friedberg Castle: "Her Majesty is tolerating the treatment well, but it is far from over" 295. In November 1910, the royal family went home. According to A.A. Vyrubova, the situation stabilized somewhat: "The treatment was beneficial and she felt fine." However, as follows from a letter from the tsar to his mother in November 1910: "Alyx is tired of the road and again suffers from pains in the back and legs, and at times in the heart." The royal family arrived in Tsarskoe Selo on the morning of November 3, 1910.

This trip rekindled old rumors. These rumors are reflected in a diary entry for November 1910 of one of the memoirists, who noted that the Empress “was not at the exit. Her mental illness is a fact ”297. In December 1910 A.V. Bogdanovich, according to the valet of Nicholas II - Radzig, again mentioned Vyrubova: “More than ever she is close to Vyrubova, to whom she says everything, what the Tsar tells her, the Tsar constantly expresses everything to the Tsarina. Everyone despises Vyrubova in the palace, but no one dares to go against her - she is constantly with the tsarina: in the morning from 11 to one, then from two to five and every evening until 11 4/2 hours. Before it happened that during the arrival of the Tsar Vyrubova was reduced, but now she is sitting all the time. At 11 4/2 the tsar goes to study, and Vyrubova and the tsarina go to the bedroom. A sad, shameful picture! " 298.

An important question arises: How did the royal family feel about these rumors, which undoubtedly reached them? Outwardly, nothing. Nicholas II was very jealous of attempts to interfere with his private life. He immediately stopped all attempts to "open his eyes," even to Rasputin's "pranks" or his wife's "relationship" with Vyrubova. The fact remains that all attempts to discredit both Vyrubova and Rasputin in the eyes of the royal family were unsuccessful. At the same time, the unwillingness to follow the established standards and traditions in the relations of the tsarist family with its entourage undoubtedly undermined the prestige of the autocratic power in Russia.

Thus, several conclusions can be drawn.

First, 1905-1906. a real friend appears next to the empress. However, the peculiarities of Alexandra Fyodorovna's psycho-emotional make-up take this friendship beyond the framework of the prevailing stereotypes, which creates the basis for the appearance of rumors discrediting her.

Secondly, at the same time, the empress has serious health problems. And these are problems not so much of a sick heart as problems in the field of psychiatry. Therefore, since 1908, Alexandra Feodorovna actually refuses the services of qualified doctors and confines herself to the services of only a family doctor who accepted the diagnosis that the empress herself made for herself.

Thirdly, we can only talk about lesbian rumors as a version. Moreover, this version, of course, was politicized. In a crisis period for her

Alexandra Fyodorovna frantically clung to the emotional support of her only friend, Vyrubova. It makes no sense to talk about the specific nature of this emotional support.

By 1912, the "lesbian rumor" was gradually extinguished, and the new "hit" of the 1912 season was the rumor about Alexandra Feodorovna's "closeness" with Rasputin. In fact, these rumors lay on the same plane. Their main goal was to discredit the reputation of not only Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, but the entire Imperial family, to discredit the idea of ​​autocracy in the eyes of the people. This was already a political line, which was consistently pursued by the leaders of the bourgeois parties, fighting for power. There was no question of the reliability of the rumors themselves. The main task is to throw dirt on the royal family into the people.

After the February Revolution of 1917, people close to the imperial couple tried to restore the good name of the empress. Lily Dehn subsequently categorically stated “that this statement is simply monstrous” 299. Speaking about the relationship of A.A. Vyrubova and Rasputin, she wrote: "I am sure that Anna did not love him as a man" 300 and that "there could be no question of any carnal attraction" 301. A close friend of the imperial family, an officer of the yacht "Shtandart" N.P. Sablin in the testimony of the Extraordinary Investigative Commission of the Provisional Government: "I completely deny the possibility of Rasputin's physical proximity to the Empress and to Vyrubova" 302. We quoted E. Radzinsky's opinion that Vyrubova was a hidden lesbian. On the other hand, one can cite the opinion of the modern biographer of Nicholas II, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor A. Bokhanov, who asserts that "talk about" unnatural love "did not have the slightest foundation" 303.

I would especially like to draw your attention to the words of Fr. Feofan, who, during interrogation at the same Investigative Commission of the Provisional Government, testified: “I have never had and do not have any doubts about the moral purity and impeccability of these relations. I officially declare this as a former confessor of the Empress ... And if other rumors are spreading in the revolutionary crowd, then this is a lie, speaking only about the crowd and those who spread it, but by no means about Alexander Fedorovna. "

IN AND. Gedroyc and imp. Alexandra Fedorovna

To the above, we can add that if Vyrubova hid her "hobbies", then in the immediate circle of Alexandra Feodorovna there was another openly "pink" lady. In August 1909, at the empress's categorical insistence, a woman doctor, Princess Vera Ignatievna Gedroyts 305, was appointed senior physician of the Tsarskoye Selo court hospital. It was V.I. Giedroyc taught medicine to the Empress and her daughters in August 1914. It was she who was assisted by Alexandra Feodorovna on surgical operations in 1914-1916. It was Gedroyts and Vyrubova

disputed the friendship of the empress. According to her recollections, Gedroyts "spoke about herself in a masculine way:" I went, I operated, I said. " She smoked a lot, had a deep voice. She was called "George Sand of Tsarskoe Selo". Gedroyts lived openly with the maid of honor M.D. Nirod 306, who worked as a surgical nurse at the same Tsarskoye Selo hospital 307.

Nun Maria (Taneeva)

At first glance, acquaintance with the presented material gives rise to the feeling that "there was a sin." Too solid sources of information from the Alexander Palace - valets Radzig and Shalberov, palace commandant Dedyulin, daily reports of the Palace police ...

On the other hand, life is sometimes more complicated and sometimes simpler than boilerplate schemes. Vyrubova herself wrote: “During the first two years of my friendship with the Empress, she tried, just as secretly as smuggling, to escort me to her office through the servants' room so that I would not meet with her maids of honor. The Empress was afraid to arouse feelings of jealousy in them. We spent time doing needlework or reading, and the secrecy of the meetings was only created ground for unnecessary rumors(italics mine .- AND. 3.)>> 308 .

Later in the relationship between Alexandra Feodorovna and Vyrubova there were periods of cooling, almost family quarrels, but they kept their friendship until the very end. When, during the February Revolution of 1917, the sick Anna Vyrubova lay in one of the rooms of the Svitskaya half of the Alexander Palace, well-wishers advised the empress to remove her from the residence, since Vyrubova was too odious a figure.

Certificate of tonsure as a nun

Headstone AL. Taneeva in Helsinki

To this proposal, Alexandra Fedorovna replied: "I do not betray my friends" 309. Then, in March 1917, Vyrubova was arrested and taken to Petrograd. In fact, Vyrubova carried her friendship with the Empress through her entire life.

A.A. Vyrubova managed to preserve the empress's friendship, being around the throne for 12 years, despite the fact that her name became odious. She actually became the main assistant to the Empress, who from 1915 began to be closely involved in the political life of Russia. She managed to preserve the image of a stupid, poorly informed and poorly understood woman in the summer of 1917 during interrogations in the Peter and Paul Fortress (March - July 1917). In August 1917, revolutionary sailors arrested her again and imprisoned her in the Sveaborg Fortress. In September 1917, thanks to the intervention of the Petrograd Soviet, which was headed by L.D. Trotsky, she was released and taken to Petrograd, to Smolny. On October 8, 1918, upon a denunciation, Vyrubova was arrested by the Cheka again, but she soon escaped from custody while moving from one prison to another, from 2 Gorokhovaya Street, to Shpalernaya.

Of course, Anna Vyrubova was not such a stupid simpleton as her contemporaries sometimes paint her. Last Minister of the Interior tsarist Russia HELL. Protopopov asserted that Vyrubova is "a phonograph of words and suggestions ... There is no state thought of her own, she mechanically transmitted what she heard" 310. But the "smart" Protopopov was shot by the Bolsheviks, and the "stupid" Vyrubova, after several arrests, managed to survive and survive in the meat grinder Civil war... She managed to escape from Petrograd to Finland in 1920, where she lived for the rest of her life.

In 1923 in Paris A.A. Vyrubova published her memoirs "Pages of My Life" in Russian. In the same year, this book was published in New York. English language... In 1937, Vyrubova finished working on the second book of memoirs, repeating in it in part what was written in 1923. The manuscript of this book lay motionless until 1984, when it was published under the title “Unpublished Memoirs of A.A. Vyrubova ".

After the outbreak of the Soviet-Finnish war in November 1939, Anna Vyrubova fled from near Vyborg, where she lived, deep into Finland and also survived. In Finland, she secretly tonsured a nun under the name of Mary and led an extremely secluded life. Anna Aleksandrovna Vyrubova died in 1964, having lived for 80 years.

Being a maid of honor during the time of tsarist Russia was considered very prestigious. Parents dreamed that their daughters were attached to the imperial family. It would seem that a luxurious life at court, dresses, balls ... In fact, everything is not quite so rosy. The round-the-clock watch near the empress, the exact execution of all her whims and clearly regulated behavior in parallel with attending all balls and holidays literally exhausted the ladies-in-waiting who had served the empresses for years or even decades.

All court maids of honor had insignia: the monogram of the person whom they served. They were adorned with jewels and attached to a blue ribbon bow.

Her fate was incredible, and her life was an example of selfless service to the fatherland and helping the suffering.

A scandalous story happened in 1851 in St. Petersburg at the imperial court. One girl, a 26-year-old maid of honor, threw herself at the feet of her mistress, Tsarevna Maria Alexandrovna (wife of the future Emperor Alexander II) and confessed that she was pregnant.
It is she, Yulia Mavrikievna Gauke, as well as the father of her fledgling child, who will be destined to become the great-grandfather and great-grandmother of Philip, Duke of Edinburgh - the wife of the star of our Queen Elizabeth II.

Who was the father?

This was the brother of the aforementioned future Empress Maria Alexandrovna - Prince Alexander of Hesse-Darmstadt. When his sister, quite dubious, to be honest with the princess (this should be discussed separately, there is great story about the mighty equestrian) was incredibly lucky to attract the attention of the future Emperor Alexander II and marry him, her brother did not turn away from fortune. In the same 1840 he entered the Russian service, moved to St. Petersburg and soon became a general in the Russian army.

Family portrait of the Hessian surname:
Maria Alexandrovna - standing in a white dress; our king is behind her, in the depths. The future young father Prince Alexander is opposite his sister, on the other side of the statue.

So, Prince Alexander, then hopefully not yet growing those terrible Victorian whiskers, was a brilliant cavalry officer and, of course, often visited his sister, who was still the crown princess (because Nicholas I was still alive).

Further details of the story have been preserved for us by the wonderful gossip maid of honor Anna Tyutcheva, whose words we will listen to my free retelling.

According to the evil-tongued Tyutcheva, the maid of honor Gauke "was never beautiful, but she liked her thanks to the grace and piquancy inherent in Polkas." Prince Alexander seemed to be plunged into deep melancholy as a result of an unsuccessful romance with a very beautiful daughter Countess TI Shuvalova, whom the emperor forbade him to marry.

Countess Tekla Ignatievna Shuvalova is, by the way, that very young Polish beauty whom Platon Zubov foolishly married.
Here is her daughter Sophia in the portrait of Bryullov, obviously, the prince was in love with her.

Julia Gauke in the portrait of Vladimir Hau

The maid of honor Gauke, a girl "not of her first youth" (as Tyutchev does not forget to clarify; and the girl is only 26 years old), "then decided to console and entertain the prince in love and did it with such success that she had to throw herself at the princess's feet and announce to her about need to leave your seat. "

General Mauritius Gauke, father of the bride (in the portrait of Alexander Molinari).
He was killed in Warsaw during the uprising of 1830 (received 19 bullets), which is why, as the daughter of a hero, Julia was educated at the institute under the patronage of the royal family, and then received an appointment to the court.
German. Ancestors - the Gauke clan comes from the Flemish clan Van der Haacken, known since the 15th century.

They say (no longer Tyutchev) that upon learning about the relationship between a relative and a maid of honor Gauka, the emperor proposed to P.P. (It's funny, when in 1862 the new emperor offers Albedinsky his ex-mistress, the maid of honor Alexander Sergeevna Dolgoruky, he will not refuse).

Mother of the bride Sofia Gauke, ur. La Fontaine, daughter of a military doctor (in the portrait by Alexander Molinari).
Died tragically - hanged and hanged during the Warsaw uprising

"Prince Alexander, as a man of honor, announced that he would marry her, but Emperor Nicholas, who did not allow jokes when it came to the good manners of the imperial family and the imperial court, came to the greatest anger and announced that the perpetrators must immediately leave Russia with a ban ever return; he even took away from the prince his salary of 12,000 rubles, and from Gauke a pension of 2,500 rubles, which she received for the service of her father. "

Julia and Alexander

Tyutcheva writes about the deportation of the prince: “It was a hard blow for the crown princess, she was separated from her dearly beloved brother, who lost all hope for any career and at the same time all means of subsistence because of the play of the coquette, which carried away this young man without real passion on both sides. "

(I do not think that unmarried Julia could have been expelled by anyone. Most likely, as in the case of Nadezhda Akinfova and the Duke of Leuchtenberg, another relative of the royal family, there was her banal escape from supervision, for the sake of a wedding. With military service and ordered to go abroad, and he did not want to leave alone).

The lovers were married on October 28, 1851 in Breslau, in the Kingdom of Prussia. The situation was made easier for them by the fact that both were not Orthodox.
By this time, Julia was six months pregnant and soon gave birth to her first child.

Portrait of Julia

Their marriage was declared morganatic. In 1851, Ludwig III, Grand Duke of Hesse, bestowed on his younger brother's wife the title of Countess von Battenberg with the address "Your Serene Highness", and in 1858 awarded her the title of Princess von Battenberg with the address "Your Grace." The children of Julia and Alexander also received the titles of Prince and Princess von Battenberg with the same treatment. Thus, the von Battenberg family acquired the status of a lateral branch of the house of the Grand Dukes of Hesse.

No matter how Tyutcheva suspected the newlyweds in the absence of passion on both sides, they lived happily enough together for 37 years.

Spouses in old age, together with their eldest daughter (the first child, judging by the dates, did not survive)

Accordingly, their children were maternal cousins ​​of Alexander III. The Romanovs remembered this murky story: somehow one of these children, Alexander Battenberg, who became the ruler of Bulgaria, in some way betrayed the interests of the Russian Empire. Bismarck writes about our reaction to this event as follows: "Emperor Alexander III explained his cousin's falling away simply by his Polish origin; 'Polish mother' ['Polskaja mat'] was his first exclamation when he became disillusioned with his cousin's behavior."(It still seems to me that Bismarck did not understand some of the nuances of this exclamation of a true native speaker of the Russian language ...)

Portrait of Julia in adulthood. Note the abundance of diamonds.

In general, they had 5 surviving children, of which the first son, born in 1854, was Ludwig Battenberg, married the granddaughter of Queen Victoria - Victoria of Hesse. He became Prince of Mountbatten and Marquess of Milford Haven since 1917.

The name "Ludwig" was a family name in the Hessian house, it was often given to the first-born heirs, the first ruler Ludwig of Hesse was born in 1402 (and it apparently got into the dynasty even earlier, perhaps through his maternal grandfather).

Ludwig Battenberg with his wife Victoria of Hesse

Among the children of Ludwig Battenberg-Mountbatten - named after his father Louis Mountbatten Viceroy of India (after whom the newborn British prince was partially named) and Alice, wife of a Greek prince - mother of Philip of Edinburgh.

Alice, Philip's mother (in the portrait of F. Laszlo)

These are the squiggles of the pedigrees!