An Age of Magic

The riddle of the last Tsars

I have always found the story surrounding the last days of the family of Tsar Nicolas II fascinating. There was always a certain amount of possibility that the woman who claimed to be Anastasia, Anna Anderson, just may have been her. But that was debunked some years back.  Then there have been other claims that the boy, Alexei, escaped with one of his sisters. But recent tests have proved otherwise. DNA tests carried out on two sets of bones found in the Ural Mountains appear to have solved the riddle.

Forensic experts say initial results show the human remains belong to 13-year-old Crown Prince Alexei and his sister Princess Maria, 19. This is both sad and enlightening…it is always hard to imagine the boy surviving anyway as he was a sufferer of haemophilia - he would have bled to death quite quickly after the shooting.

Now, however, Russian scientists say the first conclusions of DNA tests indicate that the two sets of bones found last year are those of Maria and Alexei. The remains of the tsar, tsarina and other family members were discovered in a grave near Ekaterinburg in 1991. They were authenticated by DNA tests.

This was a tragic event in any case, the Tsar was a cousin of George V and the Tsarina was a great aunt of Prince Phillip; the four daughters were absolutely beautiful. Such a shame they were victims of their birth.

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