The Imperial Tea Party by Frances Welch

Author:Frances Welch [Frances Welch]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781780723075
Publisher: Short Books
Published: 2018-08-06T16:00:00+00:00

Nicolson left some scant details: ‘Large lunch on Standart; Izvolsky and Hardinge discussed the Straits.’ Hardinge would insist that he was: ‘always prepared to discuss the Straits in an amicable spirit’. He clearly did keep the discussions amicable, even though he and Izvolsky were in basic disagreement. In an echo of the Tsar’s talks with Salisbury at Balmoral, Izvolsky held the view that the Turkish Straits should be open only to Russians, while Hardinge wanted them open to all. Hardinge’s description of the great Izvolsky indicates that he succeeded in gaining the upper hand: ‘He [Izvolsky] struck me as very able, adroit but extremely timid… any suggestion which I made to him was at once set aside as requiring careful study.’

Hardinge broached easier topics with the Tsar: ‘He was enthusiastic over the Anglo-Russia agreement [and he] foretold close cooperation in the future between the two countries.’ Hardinge brought up the positive Russian press coverage preceding the visit: ‘On my saying I was surprised at the support of the “bitterest foe of England” (Novoe Vremya), His Majesty admitted that he was also astonished at the rapidity with which the feeling had spread and that he had never been so surprised as when he had read recently in a chauvinistic “rag” called the Sviet a warm article in praise of England and urging closer relations between the two countries.’ In fact, the Sviet had also been quoted by Hugh O’Beirne as referring to the ‘traditional enmity of England’. In the growing spirit of accord, the Tsar told Hardinge that he looked forward, at some stage, to meeting Edward Grey.

Hardinge commented, once again, on the Tsar’s well-being: ‘[He] looked extraordinarily well and in the best possible spirits.’ If he was struck by the contrast in mood between the Tsar and his tearful wife of the night before, he made no reference to it.

Meanwhile, Ponsonby made great strides with Stolypin, who he described as: ‘a grave, splendid-looking man with a long grey beard’. Stolypin told Ponsonby of his refusal to be intimidated by the nihilists who had attacked him just two years before: the resulting explosion had cost his daughter her leg. Ponsonby was full of admiration: ‘He said that if he lived in fear of his life, his life wouldn’t be worth living. He asked me a good deal about English politics, seemed to be very well versed in everything going on in England.’ Stolypin himself was very taken with the Queen’s lady-in-waiting, ‘la charmante Lady Antrim’, later sending her photographs of Reval. He spoke of ‘les belles journées… dont je garde un souvenir inoubliable’.

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