Tsar Nicholas II can finally be laid to rest with his murdered family, as new DNA tests have revealed that the bones found in a Russian mine a quarter of a century ago were genuine, proving beyond any doubt that the discovered skeletal remains belonged to Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra, according to The Daily Mail.
The Russian Orthodox Church, which canonized the slain royal family in 2000, has been quite skeptical about the authenticity of the discovered remains. Since the bones were buried in St. Petersburg in 1998, the church has demanded that further investigation to ensure that they did belong to Russia's last royal couple.
The church has especially been adamant about further proof with the discovery of the alleged remains of Prince Alexei and Princess Maria, who were executed with their parents in 1918. According to the church, the remains of Nicholas II and his wife must be proven genuine as a precondition for the young prince and princess to be buried, reports The Huffington Post.
Forensic experts from Russia's Investigative Committee exhumed the remains of Nicholas and Alexandra last September, taking DNA samples and analyzing them intensively. The findings were in line with a previous analysis done in 1993, which also confirmed the authenticity of the remains.
The entire Romanov family was executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918. It has been alleged that after the royals were gunned down, their remains were cast into old mine shafts by the revolutionaries.
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