The House of Romanov will be ready to support the decision to rebury the remains of two children of Russian Tsar Nicholas II - Tsarevich Alexei and Duchess Maria - in St. Petersburg on Oct. 18 if a new DNA examination is comprehensive and if the Russian Orthodox Church agrees to recognize the authenticity of the remains found in Yekaterinburg.
"A date is not what counts the most here. The most important thing is to establish the truth," the director of the House of Romanov chancellery, Alexander Zakatov, told Interfax on Sept.25.
"The head of the Russian Imperial House of Romanov, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, has always been guided by the church's opinion on this issue. If the church recognizes the Yekaterinburg remains, she will welcome the day when the church glorification of the ashes will take place," he said.
Members of the Russian government's working group named Oct. 18 as the date for holding the ceremony in St. Petersburg to rebury the remains of Tsar Nicholas's two children - Tsarevich Alexei and Duchess Maria.
The Russian Orthodox Church and the House of Romanov have said they find that the authenticity of the remains of the royal family, discovered near Yekaterinburg and buried in St. Peter and Paul's fortress, has not been confirmed.
A new DNA examination began in Moscow on Thursday as part of the inquiry into the execution of the Russian royal family by revolutionary Bolsheviks in 1918.
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