Is it true that Elizabeth II was dancing with the Soviet sailor in 1953 in 1953?

In connection with the recent coronation of the new British monarch, Charles III on the Internet, the old story about the coronation of his mother, which took place 70 years ago, was again widely dispersed on the Internet. We checked how true it is.

On the held on May 6 Coronations The new British monarch Charles III was Russian guests: neither the government delegation, nor representatives of the Romanov House, nor the Hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church. But at the celebrations on the occasion of the accession to the throne of the mother of Karl Elizabeth II in 1953, representatives of the USSR were. According to many Russian -speaking sources, then the young Elizabeth seemed to be so fascinated by the Soviet sailor Olympius Rudakov that he honored him with a dance.

The story about the dance of Elizabeth and Rudakov is found in a large number of versions significantly different. According to the most extravagant, Rudakov presented to the queen as a gift from the USSR a mining mantle, and then not only became the first partner of Elizabeth at the coronation ball, but then was awarded the confidential audience of TET-AT in a separate office. You can also find it often statementsthat Rudakov turned his head not only to Elizabeth, but also by her younger sister Princess Margaret, who sent a huge bouquet of roses to the brave captain, and then even invited to a ten -day journey through the castles of England. But the strict authorities allegedly gave Rudakov only two days.

This story was devoted to the premiere release of the project "Relatives"(Author - Zakhar Prilepin) on the NTV channel. They reported her RIA "News" And MTRK "Mir". After the coronation of Charles III, the incident was again actively dispersed through social networks (Telegram, Facebook, "VKontakte") And other information resources ("Zen","The plane"). At least partly (with regard to the attention provided to the queen to the Soviet sailor, and dance at the ball) the story was confirmed by the sons of Rudakov Yuri (newspaper "Kazan Vedomosti"In 2021) and Boris (magazine"Companion»In 2007).

First of all, it should be noted that Olympius Ivanovich Rudakov is a very real person with a bright biography. He was born in Kazan in 1913, in 1937 he got a cadet for the famous battleship "Marat", at which he went to Britain to participate in the celebrations in honor of the coronation of George VI, Father Elizabeth. In 1942, during the war, he was an assistant commander on the destroyer "Rushing", sank in the Barents Sea. Since the commander and his assistant left the ship not the last, they were fed up. Rudakov was unclenched into ordinary ones, but he was so distinguished in subsequent battles that he ended the war captain of the 3rd rank. In 1953, the Soviet leadership decided to send to celebrations on the occasion of the coronation of Elizabeth the brand new cruiser of Sverdlov under the command of Rudakov. The Soviet ship made a great impression on the British public. Correspondents of British, American and Australian newspapers that illuminated the ships of ships (for example, Washington Post), noted the excellent training of Soviet sailors, who put the "Sverdlov" in the gavan reserved for him in a record short time. 

The detailed schedule of the ships and the events accompanying it is given in the official booklet, which in a scanned form can be found in Network. The event was illuminated by numerous newspapers, there is also a dedicated to it newsreel. From these materials it is clear that Sverdlov arrived at the Spithead raid near Portsmut on June 10, that is, more than a week after the coronation on June 2. In the following days, Captain Rudakov took on board the Lord mayor Portsmut and the leaders of the British-Soviet friendship society. Soviet sailors also attended several events on the shore and on other ships. It is noteworthy that the president of the British-Soviet friendship Society, the dean of the Kenterbury Cathedral Hughlett Johnson presented to Captain Rudakov Luxurious bouquet. It is possible that it was precisely because of this that later the legend of the colors from Princess Margaret arose.

At the same time, it is clear from the program of the celebration that Elizabeth II arrived in Portusmut on the evening of June 14, as if aboard her yacht - the frigate “Surpraise”. In the same morning of June 15, she accepted the ranks of the Admiralty and some senior naval officers. In the evening of the same day, on board the British battleship Vangard, a dinner with the participation of the queen (from 20:30 to 22:30) took place, then the guests could admire the illumination of ships standing on the raid and fireworks. Around 23:15, the queen returned aboard the Surpraise and in the morning of the next day left by train to London. Thus, it is clear that in the official program of the sea review, the ball, on which Captain Rudakov would have the opportunity to dance with the queen, was not provided.

There are no references to such an event in the English -speaking press. Rudakov, among other captains, was represented by the Queen and her husband to the Duke of Edinburgh in the morning of June 15 aboard the Surpraise. This moment is captured in the photograph available today in several famous Photo banks. Some newspapers, such as Canadian Victoria Daily Times, noted that Her Majesty talked with the Soviet captain through a translator for about a minute. The interest of Elizabeth was quite understandable, because the “Sverdlov” became the first Soviet warship to arrived in the UK after 1937, and even in the midst of the Cold War. The presence of the Soviet captain on board on board Vangard on the evening of June 15 does not write newspapers, it was not possible to find group photographs from this event. But judging by the depicting it The picture of J. Gilroly, it was precisely an official dinner, not a ball. 

But the most important thing is that the legends about the dance of the British queen with Rudakov and the direct participants in the Sverdlov visit from the Soviet side refute the special attention shown to him. Vitaly Skolodyzhny, who at that time on the cruiser by the navigator, published a small note About the campaign in England in 2000 in the magazine "Sea Collection". The main place in it is given to professional navigation issues, including in detail the production of Sverdlov on the raid is described in detail. The shirts themselves, the shutter describes quite briefly, but at the end he writes directly: “After the campaign, legends began to be born. For example, that, observing the production of the cruiser of the Featying (that is, two anchors in a special way. - Approx. Ed.), The young queen was delighted and awarded the commander specially released by the medal. Let me remind you that the queen arrived in Portsmut the day before the parade and therefore could not see our parish ... The queen was not dancing the first waltz with our commander, since there was no ball with the participation of the queen for foreign sailors, and it could not be. There was a traditional lunch and a ball for foreign and British officers, which was given by the commander of the Portusmut base. ”

Another officer of Sverdlova, engineer Boris Zubov, in his memoirs The ball and the ball in Portsmut on June 12 recalls in detail, at which, according to him, the Queen of Elizabeth II and the husband of the Duke of Edinburgh and other family members, as well as the senior figures of England, the first Lord of the Admiralty and the Commander of the Portsmut Naval District, were present. He even clearly describes how the queen ordered the pouring from the Countesses and submit to the guests Madera from the barrel, donated to her right at the dinner by the Portuguese ambassador. In the story of the dental ball, he writes: “Ladies, including very high -ranking, invited us to dance, not giving breaks” - though they do not specify their names and the titles. It is known that in personal stories of the teeth was even more eloquent. His son, famous historian Andrei Zubov, RememberingAs I heard from my father a story about a dance with Princess Margaret, the sister of the queen. It was as if the teeth for a wonderful dance was even awarded a gift. Alas, at least in this case, the memoirist clearly sins against the truth. In a note on the ball on June 12, local newspaper Portsmouth Eventing News (in larger publications, this event was ignored) gives a list of notable guests there, especially highlighting among foreign captains Rudakov. Neither Elizabeth II nor other members of the royal family was there. It is known that on the same day they attended a completely different event-organized by the Lord mayor London Lunch in City. 

So, it can be summarized that Olympius Ivanovich Rudakov, as the captain of the cruiser, “Sverdlov” participated in a review on the occasion of the coronation of Elizabeth on June 15, 1953 and on that day he met twice with the Korolev: during the admission on board the frigate “Surpraise”, when he spoke with her about a minute through the translator, and in the evening at dinner in Linkor. "Wangard." None of these events included dancing. Soviet sailors really danced, including, possibly, with noble British ladies, at the ball, arranged on June 12 by the commander of the Portusmut Naval base, but there were no members of the royal family among the guests. However, this event gave food to numerous legends that later arose among the sailors around the campaign of the Cruiser "Sverdlov" in England. Note that the stories about how Rudakov charmed representatives of the Windsor dynasty are found almost exclusively in Runet. Perhaps the only text on this topic in English is published on Russian site.

Photo on the cover: Wikimedia Commons

Not true

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