Russia exhumes bones of murdered Tsar Nicholas and wife

Russian investigators have exhumed the remains of the last tsar and his wife, as they re-examine their 1918 murders.

Samples were taken from Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and from the bloodstained uniform of Alexander II, Nicholas's grandfather, killed in 1881.

The Romanov family members, who were killed by revolutionary Bolsheviks, are buried at a St Petersburg cathedral.

The Orthodox Church wants the remains re-checked to confirm links to other relatives whose remains are elsewhere.

The long-running murder case had been closed in 1998, after DNA tests authenticated the Romanov remains found in a mass grave in the Urals in 1991. More at link.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34338802

Wow.  That whole event is, I think, fascinating.  Thanks LL.  

I am a bit confused, I must confess, as I thought it had been settled by the DNA linking to the Tsar's relatives in the UK royals?

I am probably misunderstanding. I just hope they don't discover that Anastasia isn't accounted for....

bb1 wrote:I am a bit confused, I must confess, as I thought it had been settled by the DNA linking to the Tsar's relatives in the UK royals?

I am probably misunderstanding. I just hope they don't discover that Anastasia isn't accounted for....

The Orthodox Church demanded a DNA test on the Tsar and his wife to determine whether the two corpses found are Crown Prince Alexis and his sister. If they are then they will be canonized as the rest of the family have been and buried with their parents and siblings. LL

Ah, right! Yes, that seems fair enough.

Update:

Bones discovered in Russian mine ARE those of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife: DNA tests confirm remains belong to executed leader meaning family could finally be laid to rest together
New DNA tests comparing the exhumed bones of Russia's tragic last tsar to known royal bloodstains have proved beyond doubt
Samples taken from descendants of Britain's Queen Victoria genetically match the lower jaw of his controversial German-born empress Alexandra
Russian Orthodox Church questioned whether previous tests were sound


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3314765/Bones-discovered-Russian-Tsar-Nicholas-II-wife.html#ixzz3rH7DKapf
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Personally, I have always thought that refusing to give the Russian royal family a safe refuge is one of the worst things British royalty has EVER done. Not least because it helped sentence Russians to seventy years of Communism.

Bonny, I totally do not understand why they didn't allow them in. What if the roles were reversed?

The stunning jewelry was soon captured for use in England so maybe that made up for it.

The excuse was politics, Lily - Ireland had exploded, and there was unrest in the UK for various reasons related to factory conditions during WWI.

It was, IMO, a shameful decision, and one that had terrible consequences for millions of Russians. With the Tsar's family wiped out, it made it so much easier for the Bolsheviks (few of whom were actually even Russian) to subdue the population, and even those who fought on had no-one to rally round. Which, of course, was the whole reason for slaughtering the family.

I suspect that if the Imperial family had reached a place of safety the Bolsheviks wouldn't have managed to hang on. Even Stalin had to make use of Mother Russia and the Orthodox church to pull the nation together after Germany invaded.

Thank you Bonny.