Remains of Last Russian Tsar Exhumed For Further Testing

The remains of Russian’s last tsar, Nicholas II, and his wife Alexandra have been exhumed by Russian authorities for further testing, which is hoped will confirm the identities of the remains found in 2007 that are believed to be that of two of the couple’s children, Grand Duchess Maria and heir Tsarevich Alexei.

The Investigative Committee took samples from the Tsar and Tsarina as the Russian Orthodox Church wanted further confirmation that the second set of remains were of Grand Duchess Maria and Tsarevich Alexei, who both died along with their whole family in July 1918, before agreeing to bury the remains with the other Romanovs.

Other samples were taken from the uniform of Tsar Alexander II, and will be taken from the remains of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, older sister of Tsarina Alexandra.

Tsar Nicholas II and his family, ca 1913

The remains of the Tsar and Tsarina, along with their three other daughters (Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia), were buried at the St Peter and Paul Cathedral in St Petersburg in 1998, after the remains were found in the Urals in 1991.

Filed under Germany, Historical Royals, Russia
Tagged Alexander II of Russia, Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, Maria Nikolaevna of Russia, Nicholas II of Russia, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia.