Eleven Eton pupils made guests of honour by Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin… beating Theresa May to her first face-to-face talks

ELEVEN Eton pupils met Vladimir Putin in Moscow - pipping PM Theresa May.

The British Prime Minister is still waiting for her first face-to-face talks with hardman Putin since moving into No 10 last month.

But while Mrs May waits for her first audience at next week’s G20, the pupils got a personal invite into the heart of Putin’s Kremlin HQ last week.

In an astonishing set of photos, the boys - some wearing official Eton school ties - were seen shaking hands with the President.

Others show them wearing translation headsets, sitting next to Putin around a gilded meeting table.

Incredibly, the students were granted the hour-long audience in the same room where Putin recently hosted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

And minutes later they jokingly posed for pictures in another room to mark the astonishing visit.

In one photo two lads are seen lounging on white Kremlin chairs, with one holding up a decanter of red wine.

Another shows the students posing for a group picture - with three boys lying down on the Kremlin carpet, pulling poses for the camera.

Many of the photos were later posted on public Facebook pages and the pupils were also interviewed on Russian TV.

The group’s visit was privately arranged and was not an official school trip.

It comes as Mrs May tries to thaw icy London-Moscow relations next week, caused by Russia’s Ukraine policy and its support for Assad’s regime in Syria.

Russian long-range bombers and submarines have also strayed close to British territory in recent months.

Earlier this month the PM’s spokeswoman described the phone call between the leaders and said: “The Prime Minister noted the importance of the relationship between the UK and Russia, and expressed the hope that, despite differences on certain issues, they could communicate in an open and honest way about the issues that mattered most to them.

“They looked forward to seeing each other at the G20 summit in China next month.”

The pupils’ trip to Moscow is believed to have been set up by Russian Bishop Tikhon Shevkunov - dubbed Putin’s “personal confessor”.

He is thought to have visited the famous college, where fees cost £37,000-a-year, in March to give a talk, when one of the boys took his contact details.

They then wrote to him, asking if he could set up an audience with Putin and Bishop Tikhon agreed.

And last week the group of Eton pupils jetted off to Russia for a sightseeing tour.

But one of boys, Marc Woernle, 18, wrote on Facebook: “We had an incredible time, and thank you so much to the people who made this happen, Natalya, Evgeny Markin, and Evgeny Zhadkevich, Nikolai, Bishop Tikhon, our many tour guides, and drivers, and organizers, and everyone who worked behind the scenes to help us.

“We are incredibly grateful to Bishop Tikhon and President Putin for inviting us, and for the hospitality going above and beyond what we expected.”

A source close to the students said: “They didn’t tell anyone they were going, I would assume it was so the school didn’t find out because I don’t think they would be happy.

“They went last week, I’m not sure on the details entirely, I don’t know who paid for the flights out there.

“From what I understand, they were talking to him about Eton because he had a keen interest in the college, mainly due to previous politicians in the UK who had attended.

“After they got home, the boys posted the pictures to social media, which I thought was strange because it looked like they had been trying to keep it quiet previously.

“I know the boys through friends, who showed me the pictures on social media.”

Both Prince William and Prince Harry have attended Eton College.

Eton also counts 19 former British Prime Ministers among its former students, including David Cameron.

The school beefed up its Russian links more than 15 years ago by appointing a former official Russian government interpreter as its head of Russian studies.

Since Peter Reznikov took the post the school has claimed it has seen the number of students taking up Russian soar six-fold.

Last night an Eton College spokeswoman said: “This was a private visit by a small group of boys organised entirely at their own initiative and independently of the College.”

The Kremlin declined to comment.