British Prime Minister Theresa May. Biography and career
British Prime Minister Theresa May was born on October 1, 1956 in Eastbourne. She began to be called the new iron lady, who replaced Margaret Thatcher. She began to pursue a tough and cold-blooded policy, thanks to which she built a successful career and achieved tremendous success. In her native country, they began to treat her with great respect. Teresa May in her youth strived for knowledge and tried in every possible way to improve herself.
Teresa May in her youth (photo)
Theresa May's age is hard to tell from her looks. A woman can hardly be given as many years as she actually turned. She looks just great, constantly looks after herself and does physical exercises. The future politician was born into a family of a clergyman in Sussex. Here her youth passed. The parents sent the girl to study at two schools at once: an ordinary one and a parish one. As a result, both were graduated with honors, and Teresa went to conquer Oxford, where she chose the Faculty of Geography and in 1977 became a bachelor's degree. A talented student eagerly absorbed knowledge, read literature and even wrote her own popular science articles.
In the photo: Teresa May as a child The young girl began her career as a consultant in a bank. Parents were not able to provide material assistance to their daughter, so she had to get her own bread on her own. She did not have influential or wealthy relatives who could help get a decent education or make a brilliant career, she had to achieve everything gradually herself. Only 10 years later, Teresa began to rapidly climb the career ladder. She never stopped reading, improving her knowledge and skills, reinforcing them with practice. A woman began to make a political career by the early 80s, and in the early 1990s she made her first attempts to break into parliament.
In the photo: Teresa May with her parents In her youth, Theresa May was not deprived of attention by representatives of the opposite sex. A beautiful and intelligent girl could not help but attract the attention of guys. She had a lot of fans, but over time they all became rejected.
Pictured: Theresa May's Wedding Only in 1980 did Teresa truly fall in love and remains faithful to her chosen one to this day. It turned out to be the current husband of the new iron lady Philip John May. True, they never got children.
Even on vacation, I keep track of things in the United Kingdom, nevertheless, too radical changes can occur. Therefore, I wonder how the meeting between Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon (the leader of Scotland) went, what they agreed and what they did not agree on, whether it is good or bad that in May's office most of the positions will be occupied by graduates of public schools, and not, as usual, by graduates of Eton and privileged private schools, and how the clown Boris Johnson would behave as foreign secretary.
But, of course, what interests the most is the personality of Theresa May herself. Before Brexit, the only thing I knew about her was that she was the Home Secretary and she was the one who reintroduced Kitten Hill shoes.
Former prime minister and current prime minister
Theresa May (nee Brasir) is 59 years old and the daughter of a vicar. Both of her grandmothers worked as servants. Teresa studied at a public school, graduated from the Faculty of Geography at Oxford. Teresa's father died in a car accident when Teresa was 25 years old, her mother did not survive her father for long, and never recovered from her husband's death. Teresa soon learned that she would never be able to have children. Troubles hardened her character, she achieved everything in life herself. The ascent to the political Olympus was not easy for Theresa May. According to her friend, she always dreamed of becoming the first female prime minister (she was even upset that Margaret Thatcher was ahead of her), and she became prime minister, albeit not the first.
Teresa met her future husband Philip in 1976 at the Oxford Union discussion club. The couple is said to have been introduced to the couple at a Conservative Party dance party by future Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Teresa and Philip got married in 1980.
Teresa with her parents
Teresa began her political career in the City of London, where she first worked at the Bank of England, and then headed the European department of the Association of Interbank Settlements Systems. Then she became a member of the local council of the Merton area in south London, rose to the deputy head of the council and went higher to the national level. At that time, the Conservative Party was unpopular, and May was defeated in the elections in Durham, but she was elected in Maidenhead, in Barkshire County (this district she still represents).
In 1999, Theresa May entered the shadow office. She was not close either with Michael Howard, or later with the so-called Nottinghill group of David Cameron and George Osborne, so at first she was trusted only by small posts, but gradually, seeing her grasp and hard work, she began to be trusted by larger posts. In 2009, she was already the shadow minister of labor and pensions. And in 2010 she became the Minister of the Interior. This came as a surprise to many. But the government's option was a win-win. Few of the "friends" were eager for this post, it was considered a "graveyard" of political careers. But, as it turned out, not for Theresa May.
She thoroughly studied the work of her department, appointed deputies with whom she had complete mutual understanding, and was not afraid to conflict with other ministers. It became impossible to remove her from office, and voters liked her tough statements.
The crime rate in the country has dropped, since 2010 there has not been a single large-scale terrorist attack in the UK, and Theresa May managed to deport the radical preacher Abu Qatada from the country. But during May's leadership, chaos began in the passport department. May has also come under constant criticism for failing to bring immigration to 100,000 a year as promised by the government ahead of the election. In addition, a public skirmish erupted between Theresa May and Minister Michael Gove over how best to combat Islamic extremism. The episode ended with Gove having to apologize to the prime minister and May firing one of her closest advisers. It is said that after this incident, she became cooler towards David Cameron.
Theresa May advocated equal rights for same-sex couples, while opposed to allowing gay couples to adopt children. She opposed the adoption of laws to combat climate change, against the further integration of the UK into the European Union, against a ban on smoking in public places, against a ban on hunting foxes, but for the invasion of Iraq and for reducing the number of migrants.
In the 70s, Theresa May was fond of the hippie movement.
He is considered the oldest prime minister in the last 40 years.
In the annual lottery in the county where she and her husband live, Teresa wins the Guess the Weight competition four times in a row. May's colleagues explain this by the fact that she has a habit of using a pocket calculator to calculate the volume of a pie by measuring its circumference and thickness.
Quite regularly, Mr. and Mrs. May sing in chorus songs with their neighbor Jimmy Page from the rock group Led Zeppelin. Teresa's husband says about it this way: “when we drive up to Jimmy's house, he greets us with the song Whole Lotta Love, Teresa takes out a harmonica and plays something from Andrew Lloyd Webber in return.
Theresa May has diabetes and injects herself with insulin every day.
Contrary to popular belief, Teresa has a highly developed sense of humor. She loves to watch old movies, and people around her often hear her laughing out loud. Her favorite movie is Alien.
Theresa May's nicknames - Theresa Maybe, Mother Theresa, Darth Mayder, Merkel of Maidenhead (Maidenhead is the county where Theresa May first ran), Theresa Slay (a hint that she fired almost the entire previous cabinet)
Theresa May is blonde.
Theresa May's hobbies are cooking (she says she has over 100 cookbooks) and hiking.
Theresa May has a one-year Vogue subscription and keys to 10 Downing Street, and she doesn't see it as odd. To paraphrase the phrase of the sun of Russian poetry "You can be an efficient person and think about the beauty of your nails", Theresa May lives by the principle: you can be a politician and think about fashion.
Theresa May with her husband - Philip John May, an employee of Capital Group Companies
Paparazzi have long noticed Teresa May's love for beautiful shoes. She wears different shoes, but most often shoes with small thin heels up to 5 cm high - kitten heels. These shoes were brought into fashion by Audrey Hepburn, who often wore kitten heels in her films. These shoes were extremely popular, but in the 80s they were supplanted by thin stilettos. Now shoes are gaining popularity again. They look good with office wear and with feminine dresses and trousers.
kitten heels Teresa May
Women politicians have a very meager choice of clothes, endless taboos both in the choice of style and in the choice of color, but Teresa May breaks stereotypes, nevertheless, without falling into outrage. For example, she came to the congress of the Conservative Party in a dark blue "Bitzer" dress from the French designer Roland Mouret. Mouret dresses are worn by the Duchess of Cambridge, Victoria Beckham and many Hollywood actresses.
On July 13, 2016, Queen Elizabeth II officially accepted the resignation of David Cameron from the post of prime minister and proposed the formation of a new government for Theresa May, who became the second woman after Margaret Thatcher to serve as Prime Minister of Great Britain. NTV tells about how her career developed and why she was entrusted to withdraw the country from the European Union.
Read below
Who is Theresa May?
Theresa May was born in 1956 in the UK (East Sussex). She received her BA in Geography from Oxford University. In addition, she worked at the Bank of England and the London government.
In 1992, she ran in the parliamentary elections in North West Durham County and in the 1994 early elections in Barking County, but Theresa May was then unable to collect enough votes.
However, after a few years she was elected from the new Maidenhead County. Since the same year he has been constantly re-elected.
From 1997 to 2002, she held various minor positions in the shadow government of the Conservatives.
In 2002, she became the first female chairman of the Conservative Party. She was engaged, in contrast to the party leader, with technical issues of ensuring the functioning of the Conservatives.
From 2003 to 2005 she was the shadow minister of transport and the shadow minister of food and the environment.
From May to December 2005 she was the shadow minister of culture, media and sports.
From 2009 to 2010, she served as the shadow minister of labor and pensions.
After the 2010 elections, she was appointed Minister of the Interior, while at the same time receiving the portfolio of Minister for Women and Equality. In this position, she advocated equal rights for same-sex couples, while becoming one of the first high-ranking UK politicians to publicly express her support for legalizing same-sex marriage.
In the House of Commons, May voted for the invasion of Iraq, for the adoption of laws to combat climate change, against the further integration of the UK into the European Union, against a ban on smoking in public places, against allowing gay couples to adopt children.
Why did she become the new prime minister?
It should be noted that during the campaign before the referendum on Britain's secession from the European Union, Theresa May supported the country's Prime Minister David Cameron, who was against Brexit. However, after summing up the results of the general vote, her opinion changed quite dramatically. After the victory of supporters of the British exit from the European Union and the announcement of Prime Minister David Cameron of her resignation, she unexpectedly put forward her candidacy for the post of head of the Conservative Party. This automatically means the nomination for the post of prime minister of the country.
In the first round of elections by the Conservative parliamentarians, the leader of the Conservative Party, Theresa May, became the leader of the race. On July 7, 2016, two women became the final contenders for the post of Prime Minister of the country - Teresa May (she got 199 votes of parliamentarians) and Andrea Leeds (got 84 votes). Thus, it was May who became the most likely candidate for the post of head of the Conservative Party.
Photo: Reuters / Neil Hall
Already on July 11, 2016, Theresa May became the only candidate for this position. Andrea Leeds ended her campaign ahead of schedule. After some time, May was declared the leader of the party, and David Cameron resigned.
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain was accepted from the post of prime minister. Theresa May was officially appointed head of government.
David Cameron: “It was not an easy way, but we passed it, not all decisions were correct, but our country has become much stronger than before.”
Recall that Theresa May became the second in the history of Great Britain the mistress of the residence on Downing Street (the first woman to serve as prime minister was Margaret Thatcher).
New British Prime Minister: who is Theresa May
Theresa May (maiden name - Brazier) was born on October 1, 1956 in the seaside resort town of Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the family of Anglican cleric Hubert Brazier and his wife Zidi Mary, née Barnes. She spent her childhood, school and student years in Oxfordshire, as her father served as a parish priest in the village of Wheatley, located 8 km east of Oxford.
Her father, a rural vicar, died in a car accident while Teresa was a student. Soon the mother died, who could not survive this loss.
Teresa attended both public and private high schools in Oxfordshire.
May received her first education at a school working at a local Catholic monastery in the village of Begbroke (despite the fact that May herself is an Anglican).
After completing her primary secondary education, Teresa transferred to a general education school in Whitley.
At that time, she eagerly took part in public life - she played roles in performances at the local church parish, and on weekends she worked in a bakery to earn her first personal money.
She graduated from Oxford University in 1977 with a degree in geography from St Hugh University's College and earned an academic bachelor's degree.
In 1977-1983. was an employee of the Bank of England, then worked in the clearing company APACS, and in 1985-1997. - Consultant in the International Association of Clearing Payment Systems. 1986-1994 worked in the management of the London borough of Merton. She was engaged in education, housing construction, was a press secretary, deputy head.
Since 1997 - Member of the House of Commons (lower house of the British Parliament) from the Conservative Party, from the Maidenhead constituency in Berkshire.
In 1999 she became a member of the "shadow cabinet" of the conservatives, taking the post of Minister of Education and Employment, in 2001-2002. was a "shadow" minister of transport.
Reference: The shadow cabinet is a “government pending”, created so that, under certain conditions, the powers of a real government were transferred to it. The second "shadow" government is legally enshrined only in England.
In 2002-2003. - Chairman of the Conservative Party (unlike the leader, who has the main role in the leadership of the party, the chairman deals with organizational issues). May became the first woman to hold this post.
In 2003 she became a member of the Privy Council, an advisory body to the Queen of Great Britain.
In 2003-2010. again held various positions in the "shadow" cabinet: Minister of Transport and Minister of Food and Environment (2003-2005); Minister of Culture, Media and Sports (2005); Minister of Labor and Pensions (2009-2010). In 2005-2009. - "shadow" leader of the House of Commons.
In May 2010, following the parliamentary elections, the head of the Conservative Party, David Cameron, formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats party, in which May received two ministerial posts - Internal Affairs and Women and Equality (she held the second position until 2012). After the 2015 elections, Cameron retained her position as Interior Minister in Cameron's one-party cabinet. May is the second woman in the country's history to hold this position after Jackie Smith, who headed the ministry from 2007-2009. According to experts, May was in this position longer than all her predecessors since the end of World War II (in 1945-1951, the ministry was headed by James Eid).
According to the statistics of the British Ministry of Internal Affairs, in general, under May, the crime rate in the country fell. So, in 2009-2010. 620 murders were committed, and in 2014-2015. - 534; the number of fatalities resulting from road accidents with dangerous driving decreased over the same period from 29 incidents to 11. The media note that since 2010 in the UK there have been no large-scale terrorist attacks. It also points to the decisive actions of the minister in 2011, when a spontaneous wave of riots took place in London. A number of measures have been introduced to protect citizens, including a curfew.
On the other hand, May's activities were criticized, since the promises of the Conservatives before the elections in 2010 were not fulfilled to reduce the number of migrants arriving in the country to 100 thousand people a year (according to the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC for August 2015, for the year their number was 330 thousand). At the same time, Theresa May takes a tough stance on immigration. So, in 2011, her department decided to allow qualified specialists from other countries to stay in the country with their families after the expiration of a work visa only if they earn at least 35 thousand pounds a year, which roughly corresponds to the average salary in the country. In October 2015, at a party conference, she proposed to tighten control over foreign students in order to prevent their illegal stay in the country after graduation.
After the June 2016 referendum, which resulted in 51.9% of Britons voted to leave the UK from the European Union (Brexit), David Cameron announced the upcoming resignation, Theresa May announced her candidacy as his successor as leader of the Conservative Party and - automatically - the prime minister. Everyone expected that the ex-mayor of London, Boris Johnson, a politician with fantastic charisma and one of the main agitators for the country's exit from the EU, would become the new prime minister. But Johnson was betrayed by his closest associate, Attorney General Michael Gove, who repeatedly declared that he was not suitable for the post of prime minister. Gove did an unexpected act: he announced that it was Johnson, due to defects in his character, that he could not be the head of government, and he, Gove, although he still did not want power, was ready to “sacrifice himself” for the sake of the country.
Struck by the betrayal of a friend, Johnson gave up the fight for the premiership. However, this did not help the Minister of Justice: public opinion branded him as a "traitor." The intrigue did not end there: a new favorite appeared in the prime minister's race, a politician that until that moment the majority of the British public had never heard of - Deputy Energy Secretary Andrea Leedsom.
Initially, five contenders participated in the elections, on July 7, Theresa May, with the support of 199 Conservative MPs, became finalists, and Andrea Ledsom, Deputy Minister of Energy, who received 84 votes. The winner was supposed to be announced in early September following a vote by members of the Conservative Party. In her first big newspaper interview with the influential media outlet, The Times, Andrea Leedsom made a huge mistake: she made it clear that Theresa May's childlessness makes her an unacceptable candidate for the post of prime minister. A storm of indignation arose, and Andrea Leedsom left the race for the post of head of government. On July 11, it became known that Leeds had given up further struggle. Only one participant remained in it - Interior Minister Theresa May, who on the same day became the party leader.
On 13 July 2016, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain appointed Theresa May as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
According to May, in the future, "Great Britain should not become a country comfortable for a few privileged citizens, but a country for all." May's first priority will be to prepare negotiations on Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. She opposes attempts to slow down this process or hold a new referendum and promises to "agree on the most favorable conditions for the state." Theresa May herself, like Cameron, was a supporter of maintaining the country's membership in the EU, but did not participate in the campaign before the referendum. Currently, she intends to unite supporters and opponents of Britain's exit from the EU in the ranks of the conservatives.
Other plans include reforming the principles of work and the composition of the boards of directors of large companies. May believes that employees of the company itself should be represented in these structures. In the social sphere, the prime minister promised to take measures to provide assistance to the less well-to-do segments of the population.
Over the years, May has opposed the ban on smoking in public places, as well as against the granting of the rights of sexual minorities to adopt children (but at the same time, May supports same-sex marriage).
According to the BBC, Theresa May has great respect for Margaret Thatcher, but points out that "in politics she has no role model, and she prefers to go her own way."
May said she was going to build a new society in the country, the principles of which are justice and solidarity, or, as Teresa herself put it, she will create - a "collective society."
According to Teresa, the first thing that needs to be done for the UK is to overcome the division of the country, including reducing the gap between rich and poor.
According to May, ordinary citizens from the "working class" are most often affected by injustice in Britain. And there is an overwhelming majority of such people in the country. And all these people have to face and put up with the instability of the economy, the labor market and the very low quality of public services. And therefore Great Britain has long been demanding global social reforms.
Theresa May is an obedient parishioner and attends church every Sunday. At the same time, she supports gender equality and is a supporter of same-sex marriage.
Theresa May's height is 1.72 m (according to other sources - 1.63 m), in the EU - 59 kg, the zodiac sign is Libra.
May has been married since 1980. Spouse Philip May is a bank clerk, account manager of the financial company Capital International. Previously, he worked for investment management companies Deutsche Asset Management UK and Prudential Portfolio Managers UK, brokerage firm de Zoete & Bevan.
Philip is also an Oxford graduate. He attended the same Saint Hugh's College as Teresa, only two years younger.
The May couple have no children. The politician does not hide that the reason for her childlessness is her health, and she is very sorry that she was never able to recognize the joy of motherhood. May has publicly admitted that she suffers from diabetes and injects herself with insulin four times a day.
According to The Guardian, Teresa Brazier and Philip May first saw each other at a dance event organized at their college by the Conservative Party Association, and were introduced by the future Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto (who died in her homeland in 2007 as a result of a terrorist attack).
As the daughter of the ex-president and then current Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (later executed by the Zii-ul-Haq regime), she studied at Oxford University in the mid-1970s, just like the future spouses May.
Like her husband Philip, Teresa is an avid cricket cheerleader. She has campaigned to knight legendary cricketer Jeffrey Boycott so that the former player nicknamed "Sir Jeffrey" becomes a true sir. However, the idea was rejected by Buckingham Palace over a controversial 20-year-old episode in Boycott's personal life.
May is a great cook. She has over a hundred books on the art of cooking in her home. The British Prime Minister is a big fan of Earl Gray tea. Theresa May always takes teapots with this type of tea with her on business trips in case they are not in the hotel room.
May is partial to leopard-print clothes and shoes. The Times reporters counted at least 10 pairs of shoes of this color.
Statements:
“First, we need a bold, new, positive vision for the future of our country that works for everyone, not just a few privileged people. Second, we need to unite our party and country. And third, our country needs a strong, proven leadership to guide us through a period of economic and political uncertainty, and in order to reach the best deal in the EU exit negotiations and shape a new role for us in the world. Brexit means Brexit and we are going to succeed in that. "
"No democratic government, facing such a threat (terrorist - Ed.), Can do otherwise than support defense and security, and should be ready to deploy all resources if necessary."
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
Political career
In 1986-1994 she was a member of the local council of the London borough of Merton. She ran in the 1992 parliamentary elections in North West Durham County and the 1994 early elections in Barking County, but was unsuccessful.
In the House of Commons, May voted for the invasion of Iraq, against the adoption of climate change laws, against the further integration of the UK into the European Union, against a ban on smoking in public places, against allowing gay couples to adopt children.
Election of the leader of the Conservative Party
During the 2016 campaign, before the referendum on Britain's exit from the European Union, she supported Prime Minister David Cameron and was an opponent of Brexit. But after a referendum won by Eurosceptics and Prime Minister David Cameron's announcement of his impending resignation, she ran for the post of head of the Conservative Party and, therefore, Prime Minister of Great Britain.
On July 5, 2016, in the first round of elections by the Conservative parliamentarians, the leader of the Conservative Party, Theresa May, immediately became the favorite of the race - gaining 165 votes. And on July 7, two women became finalists in the race for the post of leader of the British Conservatives and the Prime Minister of the country - Theresa May, who won the support of 199 parliamentarians, and Deputy Energy Secretary Andrea Leeds, who received 84 votes, after which Teresa was considered the most likely contender for the post of British Prime Minister.
On July 11, 2016, Leedsom ended her campaign, leaving May as the only candidate. She was soon announced as the party leader. David Cameron announced that he will hand over as Prime Minister Theresa on 13 July. Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain accepted his resignation and gave an audience to Theresa May, at which she invited her to form a new government. Theresa May gave her consent and thus became the second woman in British history to take the post of Prime Minister (after Margaret Thatcher).
Personal life
Write a review on May, Teresa
Notes (edit)
Notes (edit) FootnotesLinks
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||
Excerpt from May, Teresa
Natasha went to the first big ball in her life. She got up that day at 8 o'clock in the morning and was in feverish anxiety and activity all day. All her forces, from the very morning, were directed to ensure that they all: she, mother, Sonya were dressed as best as possible. Sonya and the Countess vouched completely to her. The countess was supposed to be wearing a masaka velvet dress, they were wearing two white smoky dresses on pink, silk covers with roses in a corsage. The hair had to be combed a la grecque [in Greek].Everything essential had already been done: the legs, arms, neck, ears were already especially carefully, according to the ballroom, washed, perfumed and powdered; they were already shod with silk fishnet stockings and white satin shoes with bows; the hairstyles were almost finished. Sonya finished dressing, and so did the Countess; but Natasha, who was busy with everyone, fell behind. She was still sitting in front of the mirror in a dressing-gown draped over her slender shoulders. Sonya, already dressed, stood in the middle of the room, pressing her small finger painfully, pinning the last ribbon squealing under the pin.
“Not so, not so, Sonya,” said Natasha, turning her head from her hair and clutching at the hair with her hands, which the maid who held them did not have time to let go. - Not so bow, come here. - Sonya sat down. Natasha split the tape differently.
“Excuse me, young lady, you can't do that,” said the maid, who was holding Natasha's hair.
- Oh, my God, well after! That's it, Sonya.
- Are you soon? - the countess's voice was heard, - it's ten now.
- Now. - Are you ready, Mom?
- Just pin it.
- Don't do it without me, - Natasha shouted: - you won't be able to!
- Yes, ten.
It was decided to be at the ball at half past ten, while Natasha still had to get dressed and stop by the Tauride Garden.
Having finished her hair, Natasha, in a short skirt, from under which one could see ballroom shoes, and in her mother's blouse, ran up to Sonya, examined her, and then ran to her mother. Turning her head, she pinned the current, and, barely having time to kiss her gray hair, again ran to the girls who were hemming her skirt.
The matter was behind Natasha's skirt, which was too long; it was hemmed by two girls, hastily biting off the thread. The third, with pins in her lips and teeth, ran from the countess to Sonya; the fourth held the entire smoky dress on her hand held high.
- Mavrusha, rather, my dear!
- Give me a thimble from there, young lady.
- Is it soon, finally? - said the count, entering from behind the door. - Here's a perfume. Peronskaya was already tired of waiting.
- Done, young lady, - said the maid, lifting the hemmed smoky dress with two fingers and blowing and shaking something, expressing with this gesture the consciousness of the airiness and purity of what she was holding.
Natasha began to put on a dress.
“Now, now, don't go, dad,” she shouted to her father, who opened the door, even from under the haze of her skirt that covered her entire face. Sonya slammed the door. A minute later the count was admitted. He was in a blue dress coat, stockings and shoes, perfumed and oiled.
- Oh, dad, how good you are, lovely! - said Natasha, standing in the middle of the room and straightening the folds of the haze.
“Excuse me, young lady, excuse me,” said the girl, kneeling, pulling on her dress and turning the pins with her tongue from one side of her mouth to the other.
- Your will! - With despair in her voice Sonya cried out, looking at Natasha's dress, - your will, it's long again!
Natasha walked away to look around in the pier glass. The dress was long.
“By God, madam, nothing is long,” said Mavrusha, crawling along the floor behind the young lady.
“Well, it’s long, so we’ll sweep it up, we’ll sweep it in one minute,” said resolute Dunyasha, taking out the needle from the handkerchief on her chest and again on the floor starting to work.
At this time the Countess entered, with shy, quiet steps, in her current and velvet dress.
- Ooh! my beauty! - the count shouted, - better than all of you! ... - He wanted to hug her, but she pulled back, blushing, so as not to wrinkle.
- Mom, more on the side of the current, - said Natasha. - I will pinch, and rushed forward, and the girls who were hemming, who did not have time to rush after her, tore off a piece of the haze.
- Oh my God! What is this? I am not to blame for her God ...
- Nothing, I sweep it, it won't be visible, - said Dunyasha.
- Beauty, stealing that is mine! The nanny came in from behind the door. - And then Sonya, well, beauties! ...
At quarter past ten they finally got into the carriages and drove off. But I still had to stop by at the Tavrichesky Garden.
Peronskaya was already ready. Despite her old age and ugliness, she had exactly the same thing that the Rostovs did, although not with such haste (for her it was a habitual thing), but it was also perfumed, washed, powdered old, ugly body, also diligently washed behind the ears , and even, and just like the Rostovs, the old maid admired with enthusiasm the attire of her mistress, when she went into the living room in a yellow dress with a cipher. Peronskaya praised the Rostovs' toilets.
The Rostovs praised her taste and dress, and, taking care of their hairstyles and dresses, at eleven o'clock settled in the carriages and drove off.
Since the morning of that day, Natasha had not had a moment of freedom, and never had time to think about what lay ahead for her.
In the damp, cold air, in the cramped and incomplete darkness of the swaying carriage, for the first time she vividly imagined what awaited her there, at the ball, in the lighted halls - music, flowers, dances, the sovereign, all the brilliant youth of St. Petersburg. What awaited her was so beautiful that she did not even believe that it would be: so it was incongruous with the impression of the cold, cramped and dark carriage. She understood everything that awaited her only when, having walked along the red cloth of the entrance, she entered the hallway, took off her fur coat and walked next to Sonya in front of her mother among the flowers along the illuminated staircase. Only then did she remember how she had to behave at the ball and tried to adopt that magnificent manner, which she considered necessary for a girl at the ball. But fortunately for her, she felt that her eyes were scattering: she could not see anything clearly, her pulse beat a hundred times a minute, and the blood began to pound at her heart. She could not accept the manner that would make her ridiculous, and walked on, dying with excitement and trying with all her might only to hide him. And this was the very manner that most of all went to her. In front and behind them, talking in the same quiet manner and in ball gowns, the guests entered. The mirrors on the stairs reflected the ladies in white, blue, pink dresses, with diamonds and pearls on their open arms and necks.
Natasha looked in the mirrors and in the reflection could not distinguish herself from others. Everything blended into one brilliant procession. At the entrance to the first hall, the uniform hum of voices, steps, greetings - deafened Natasha; the light and brilliance blinded her even more. The owner and hostess, who had already stood at the front door for half an hour and said the same words to those who entered: “charme de vous voir,” [in admiration that I see you,] met the Rostovs and Peronskaya in the same way.
Two girls in white dresses, with the same roses in black hair, sat down in the same way, but involuntarily the hostess stopped her eyes for a longer time at slender Natasha. She looked at her, and she alone smiled especially in addition to her master's smile. Looking at her, the hostess remembered, perhaps, her golden, irrevocable girlish time, and her first ball. The owner also watched Natasha with his eyes and asked the count, who is his daughter?
- Charmante! [Charming!] He said, kissing the tips of his fingers.
Guests were standing in the hall, crowding at the front door, waiting for the emperor. The Countess was at the forefront of this crowd. Natasha heard and felt that several voices asked about her and were looking at her. She realized that she was liked by those who paid attention to her, and this observation calmed her somewhat.
“There are people like us, there are worse than us,” she thought.
Peronskaya named the countess the most significant persons who were at the ball.
“This is the Dutch messenger, you see, gray-haired,” Peronskaya said, pointing to an old man with silver gray curly, abundant hair, surrounded by ladies, whom he made laugh at something.
“And here she is, the queen of Petersburg, Countess Bezukhaya,” she said, pointing to Helene as she entered.
- How good! Will not yield to Marya Antonovna; see how both young and old crawl after her. And good, and smart ... They say the prince ... crazy about her. But these two, although not good, are even more surrounded.
She pointed to a lady passing through the hall with a very ugly daughter.
“This is a millionaire bride,” said Peronskaya. - And here are the suitors.
“This is Bezukhova’s brother, Anatol Kuragin,” she said, pointing to the handsome cavalry guard who walked past them, looking somewhere from the height of his raised head over the ladies. - How good! is not it? They say they marry him to this rich woman. .And your sauce, Drubetskoy, is also very curious. They say millions. “Why, this is the French envoy himself,” she answered about Caulaincourt when the countess asked who it was. - Look how some kind of tsar. And all the same, the French are nice, very nice. There is no sweeter for society. And here she is! No, everything is better than all our Marya, then Antonovna! And how simply dressed. Lovely! “And this one, fat, with glasses, worldwide freemason,” said Peronskaya, pointing at Bezukhov. - Put him next to your wife: then a pea jester!
