Reburial of the remains of Alexei and Maria

[Sonjapearl]

I agree with Russophile. I wonder why Russia wouldn't released video or photos of the remains, as they did with the rest of the family. It sounds like the finding of the two missing children was all made up.

[Russophile]

It's just weird and doesn't seem to add up which raises hackles. For so long nobody has gotten the straight story at this late in the game it seems ridiculous that there is still mystery surrounding the whole thing. Lay it all bare and have finish it. What was done, was done and let it go.

[Carminha Stalker]

I´ve always been fascinated by the Romanovs. And their tragic ending is something that never is forgotten, I hope with all my heart that the remains of these two children will be buried with dignity and honour, besides their family. Economic crisis or not.

[kell]

Tsar
Tsar’s children could face common grave

by Tom Washington at 21/02/2011 18:28

The remains of Grand Duchess Maria and Tsaryevich Alexei arrived in Moscow on Monday morning.
They were two of the children of Nikolai II, the last tsar of Russia, and the identity of their corpses was only confirmed in 2007.
The imperial bodies’ final resting place depends on an order from the Kremlin, after the surviving head of the House of Romanov wrote to President Medvedev from Switzerland, asking a government commission to determine their ultimate destination, Moskovsky Komsomolets reported.

http://en.rian.ru/papers/20110221/162700243.html Royal remains return to Moscow
The remains of Grand Duchess Maria and Tsarevich Alexis, the children of Russia’s last tsar executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918, arrived in Moscow this morning. For the last three years they have been stored in a forensic center in Yekaterinburg. It is still unclear where their final resting place will be.
The President of the Romanov Family Association, Prince Nicholas Romanov, who lives in Switzerland, has asked Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to establish a government commission to oversee the burial of the royal remains.
In 1998, the remains of Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, their three daughters Tatiana, Olga and Anastasia, and their servants, all executed by the Bolsheviks in the early hours

[pgm1952]

It is very sad that politics of church (both in Russia and abroad) and state have to interfere in what should be the final chapter of such a horrible crime. They were two children, victims of the Revolution, who deserve a dignified burrial alongside their parents, siblings, and retainers. Modern science has proven almost irrevocably that the remains are that of Alexei and Marie. Anything else is red tape and nonsense!

[charlottestreasures]

I cannot understand why it would not be just logical to bury
them with their Family.

[AristoCat]

Why don't the Romanovs just pay for it themselves and organize the burial proceedings? Then the Russian government won't be burdened with the expense and there need not be a delay, just making things more undignified and leaving the remains exposed?

[J Kendrick]

Okay... So which side of the family is this? Nicholas and Dimitry or Maria Vladimirovna? ... and does it yet have the support of the Church?

This latest article does not mention any names... but I'm assuming here that it's probably not Marie... ;-)

From Today's Interfax
13 October 2011, 17:37

Romanovs want commission formed to rebury remains of Crown Prince Alexey and Princess Maria
See: http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=8799

St. Petersburg, October 13, Interfax - Representatives of the Romanov family have asked the Russian authorities to set up a governmental commission to arrange and conduct a ceremony to rebury the remains of Crown Prince Alexey and Princess Maria, the children of Russia's last emperor Nicholas II.

In an address, which was announced at a conference in St. Petersburg, members of the royal family expressed hope that the remains would be buried in St. Catherine's Chapel of St. Petersburg's Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The authenticity of these remains was confirmed at the highest level, they said.
"The fact that the Russian Orthodox Church has canonized the family of Emperor Nicholas II and worships them as holy royal martyrs makes this issue particularly acute," they said.

"The remains of the new royal martyrs must finally be laid to rest in this Orthodox cathedral," according to the address, which will be forwarded to the Russian authorities in the near future.

On July 29, 2007, the remains of two other people were found during archeological excavations 70 kilometers south of the first burial site. Numerous tests have concluded that they belong to Crown Prince Alexey Romanov and his sister Maria. The remains have not been buried yet.

[kell]

Russia demands Christian burial for royal family — RT

[BeatrixFan]

Of course they must be buried with the rest of the family.

[AristoCat]

How odd that they weren't buried with their family in the first funeral?

[BeatrixFan]

The remains hadnt been discovered at that time.

[J Kendrick]

From Interfax/Religion:

Talk of reburying remains of Crown Prince Alexey and Princess Maria premature - House of Romanov (updated) 2011-10-13 18:53:00

See: http://www.interfax-religion.com/pri...t=news&id=8800

Moscow, October 13, Interfax - The Imperial House of Romanov led by Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna believes that it is premature to ask the Russian authorities to create a state commission for the reburial of Crown Prince Alexey and Princess Maria's remains, Alexander Zakatov, Director of the Chancellery of the House of Romanov, told Interfax on Thursday.

Earlier, some representatives of the House of Romanov circulated a statement at a press conference in St. Petersburg, arguing that the remains of Alexey and Maria should be buried in the St. Catherine Chapel of the St. Peter & St. Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

"The Russian Imperial House believes that everyone has a right to one's own opinion, including royal relatives. But what we see in this particular case is an ill-thought-out statement. Creating a commission and carrying out the reburial is impossible until the Russian Orthodox Church says its word," Zakatov said.

"At first the Church must spell out its substantiated and ultimate position and only then decisions can be made on reburying the remains found near Yekaterinburg. If those are the remains of members of the royal family, then they should certainly be buried in the sepulcher," he said.

Earlier, the House of Romanov questioned the remains' identity but said that it would wait for the Church to speak up on the issue.

"If it turns out that those are the remains of some other nameless martyrs, they also deserve proper burial. But it's impossible to repeat the sad situation of 1998, stage a show again, ignoring the opinion of the Church and that of the Imperial House," Zakatov said, referring to the first set of "Yekaterinburg remains".

As for the remains of two young bodies found in 2007, 70 km south of the first burial site, representatives of the Romanov family, who are pushing for the remains' speedy reburial, "are free to raise the issue as private persons", he said, adding that it was sad that they ignored the position of the Church.

A grave with nine bodies was found on Staraya Koptyakovskaya Road near Yekaterinburg in July 1991. The remains were identified as those of Tsar Nicholas II, his 46 year-old wife Alexandra Fyodorovna, their daughters Olga, 22, Tatyana, 21, and Anastasia, 17, doctor Yevgeny Botkin, aged 53, servants Anna Demidova, aged 40, Aloizy Trupp, aged 62, and Ivan Kharitonov, aged 48.

Fragments of human bones and teeth were discovered during archaeological excavation works 70 kilometers south of the first grave, at a depth of 60 centimeters, on July 26, 2007. The remains were not identified and the circumstances of the death were not established, but the location and look of the grave suggested that the remains were those of Crown Prince Alexey and his sister Maria.

Investigator Vladimir Solovyov, who was probing the criminal case of the murder of Nicholas II and his family, told Interfax in January that he does not doubt the identity of the remains found near Yekaterinburg.

Just one observation about the above report...

As I recall, the second burial site was just 70 metres from the first... whereas this latest news report now quotes Zakatov as having said that it was 70 kilometres... not 70 metres. So... has Zakatov been misquoted here... or has somebody in Maria's group been getting their wires crossed?

There is a thousand-fold difference between 70 metres (just under 50 yards) and 70 kilometres (forty three and a half miles). Surely, that's not the problem here. If Maria's group really do think that it's actually 70 kilometres between the two burial sites... and not just 70 metres... well...

Then, what does that tell us?

[BeatrixFan]

It seems to me that Her Imperial Highness is once again being cautious about such a big event. She said in an RT interview that the reason she was cautious about the first funeral was that she didn't feel that there was 100% proof that the remains were those belonging to the Tsar and his family. Her reasoning is that if she supported a reburial and said without question that they were the remains then faithful Orthodox Christians might venerate the remains as relics. If they were later proved not to be genuine then people would be deeply offended. So HIH is being cautious again and I can understand that. I think it's now unlikely that such a funeral would take place on the request of the lower branch of the Romanov family when it's obvious that the Kremlin regards Maria as the Head of the family.

[J Kendrick]

Church still to decide on identity of Crown Prince Alexey and Princess Maria's remains
2011-10-14 10:04:00
See: Interfax-Religion

St. Petersburg, October 14, Interfax - The issue of the identity of the remains of Crown Prince Alexey and Princess Maria's remains has not been discussed by the Russian Orthodox Church yet.

The remains were found near Yekaterinburg in 2007.

"No commission has been set up by the Church to identify the remains. The Synodal Canonization Commission has not discussed the issue either," Archpriest Georgy Mitrofanov has told Interfax-Religion.

The hierarchs have not asked the commission to look into the issue, he said.

On Thursday, representatives of the Imperial House of Romanov voiced their intention to ask the Russian authorities to set up a commission for the reburial of Alexey and Maria's remains.

Meanwhile, the head of the House of Romanov, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, said that any talk of reburial would be premature until the Church spelled out its position.

During the 1998 campaign for the reburial of the first set of "Yekaterinburg remains" - the remains of the imperial couple, three princesses and servants - the Church announced that it could not confirm their identity because there were questions to which answers had yet to be found.

"But some questions still have no answers. The Church has not changed its position as far as the 'first' remains are concerned: we stick to the Synod's decision passed in 1998. But this does not mean that it cannot be changed," the priest said.

[BeatrixFan]

The confusing part here is that the Imperial House hasn't asked for the Russian authorities to set up a commission at all. Relatives of the Romanov family have asked for the commission. The Imperial House is headed by the Grand Duchess, the Orthodox Church recognises her as such and I assume will only form such a commission if she asks them to.

[kell]

it isnt that confuseing they asked for the dagmar reburial last time as well in 2001 or 2000 something from both the denmark royal family and putin its expected for any relative to ask for a burial of such a important family

[BeatrixFan]

"They" being Maria as Head of the Imperial House and the Danish Royal Family. Again, it's who the request comes from that causes these problems. Another reason why the "relatives" should just let one person organize the affairs of the Imperial Family.

[kell]

they being the others not maria 2nd she hasnt done the planning since the kremlin kicked the special status thing in 1998 for her i should have been a lil more clearer in my earlier post keep forgetting what camp some are in and i rather not ruffle feathers

[AristoCat]

Why don't the Romanovs do this themselves instead of relying on the government? Cripes, there are members of the Russian government that are still descended from the people that butchered their family! Besides, the Russian government has a lot more on their mind than this.