Prince Vasily Alexandrovich Dolgorukov (1868-1918)

Prince Vasily Alexandrovich Dolgorukov was born on 13th August 1868, in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg. He was one of three children born to Prince Alexander Vasilyevich Dolgorukov (1839-1876) and Princess Maria Sergeevna, née von Benckendorff (1846-1936). Vasily had a sister Olga (1865-1961) and a brother Alexander (1866-1919). His mother outlived both of her sons.

Vasily’s mother served as a maid of honour at the Imperial Court. His father was known as “a bitter man and violent drunkard”, who was killed in a duel in 1876. On 29th September 1897, Maria entered into a second marriage to Count Paul Leopold Johann Stephan Graf von Benckendorff [later, the famous Pavel [Paul] Konstantinovich Benckendorff (1853-1921), who served as Chief Marshal of the Imperial Court, and member of the inner circle of Emperor Nicholas II. The couple had no children.

In 1880 Vasily graduated from the Corps de Pages. He then served as a cornet in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment, and in March 1904, he was promoted to colonel and commanded a squadron.

PHOTO: Dolgorukov dressed in 17th-century costume, for the
famous Costume Ball, held in the Winter Palace in February 1903

In 1896, he was appointed aide-de-camp to His Imperial Majesty Emperor Nicholas II.

From 16th March 1910 to 3rd March 1912, Vasily served as commander of the 3rd Novorossiysk Dragoon Regiment. In March 1912, he was promoted to the rank of Major General and enlisted in the retinue of His Imperial Majesty. He served as commander of the Life Guards Horse Grenadier Regiment from 3rd March, 1912 to 4th February 1914. From 3rd March 1912 to 4th February 1914). February 4, 1914 – July 23, 1914 – commander of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Guards Cavalry Division.

From 23rd July 1914 he was appointed Knight Marshal of the Court of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Nicholas II. During the First World War, Vasily was at the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, first at Baranovichi, and from 8th August 1915 – in Mogilev.

During his lifetime, Vasily Dolgorukov was the recipient of 7 orders of the Russian Empire, and 17 orders from the various courts of Europe.

PHOTO: Dolgorukov shovelling snow in the garden of the Governor’s House, where the Imperial Family were being held under house arrest, in the winter of 1917-18

The Emperor and Empress were both very fond of Vasily, and nicknamed him Valya. Vasily Alexandrovich Dolgorukov selflessly served Emperor Nicholas II and remained faithful to his Tsar until his martyrdom.

Following the Tsar’s abdication on 15th March (O.S. 2nd March), he returned to Tsarskoye Selo. Upon his arrival at the station, he was met by Colonel Eugene Stepanovich Kobylinsky (1875-1927), who recalls: “The Tsar was accompanied by many members of his retinue. When the train arrived at the station, the members of the Tsar’s retinue spilled onto the platform and began to quickly scatter in different directions, like rats, looking around, apparently imbued with a sense of fear that they would be recognized. It was a very ugly scene to witness!”

The Tsar got out of the carriage, and quickly moved along the platform, without looking at anyone, and got into the motorcar waiting for him. Of all those who accompanied the Tsar on the train, only one faithful member of his retinue followed him: Prince Vasily Dolgorukov. With dignity, he took a seat in the motorcar next to the Emperor.

The Tsar and his family were placed under house arrest, the Alexander Palace had now become a prison. Dolgorukov often accompanied the Tsar during his walks in the Alexander Park. It was during these walks, that Vasily Alexandrovich tried to come between the Tsar and the guards, protecting the Tsar as much as possible from the rudeness of the unbridled soldiers. In the midst of general fear and betrayal, Vasily Alexandrovich retained courage and fortitude.

Alexander Aleksandrovich Bublikovm (1875-1941), a State Duma deputy and staunch anti-monarchist noted “from the Emperor’s retinue, only the Knight Marshal of the Imperial Court, Prince Dolgorukov, behaved with true dignity!”

PHOTO: Prince Vasily Alexandrovich Dolgorukov. 1917.

On 14th (O.S. 1st) August 1917, he voluntarily followed the Emperor and his family into exile to Siberia, where they were held under house arrest in Tobolsk until April 1918. During imprisonment, Vasily worked alongside Nicholas in the large garden, sawing wood, clearing the snow, digging in the garden, etc.

The Tsar and Dolgorukov were separated only in Ekaterinburg, the latter, who upon his arrival in the Ural city was arrested on false charges “in order to protect public safety.” He was placed in the political block of the Ekaterinburg prison. The Chekists tried to accuse him of planning the escape of the Imperial Family, although historians call these accusations groundless.

On 10th June 1918, Prince Vasily Dolgorukov, along with General Ilya Leonidovich Tatishchev, were shot in a wooded area near the city’s Ivanovskoe Cemetery. Their bodies were later discovered by a unit of the White Army, and buried in the autumn of 1918 in the cemetery (lost during the Soviet years) of the Novo-Tikhvinsky Convent in Ekaterinburg.

In November 1981, Dolgorukov was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). In October 2009, he was rehabilitated among 52 close associates of the Imperial Family, after a ruling made by the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation.

On 13th June, a new monument to four faithful servants of Emperor Nicholas II, was installed and consecrated on the grounds of Novo-Tikhvin Convent. The monument features four bas-reliefs, honouring Prince Vasili Alexandrovich Dolgorukov (1868-1918), Lieutenant General Ilya Tatishchev (1859-1918), Tsesarevich Alexei’s “nanny” sailor Klimenty Grigorievich Nagorny (1887-1918) and boatswain Ivan Dmitriyevich Sednev (1881-1918).

Memory Eternal! Вечная Память!

© Paul Gilbert. 21 June 2025