A Romanov Mystery Solved: Forensic Facial Reconstructions & History | Royalty Now

The mystery of what happened to the Romanov family was one of the greatest historical questions of the 20th century. For decades, no one knew the answer to where the Imperial family was located after the Russian Revolution in 1918. Today, we’ll reveal never before seen re-creations of the children in the family, based on the forensic reconstructions created by Dr. Sergei Nitkin.

0:00 Romanov History
6:00 Russian Revolution
9:53 Time in Captivity
11:24 Romanov Imposters
16:33 Forensic Investigation
19:26 Reconstructions Revealed

It wasn’t until 1979 that the world finally got some answers about what really happened to the Romanov family. Russian investigators found what they thought might be the final resting place of the family, in the woods outside of Yekaterinburg. Their findings had to remain secret for many years, as Russia was still in the Soviet Union. The bodies were only exhumed and examined in 1991, with the findings finally released to the public.

DNA and skeletal analysis confirmed they were the lost family, but provided an incomplete picture - only 5 of the 7 Romanovs could be identified. The grave contained the bones of Tsar Nicholas, Tsarina Alexandra, and three of the daughters, two of whom they identified certainly as Olga and Tatiana. The third was a mystery - it was either Maria or Anastasia but they weren’t sure.

This discovery only added fuel to the fire that members of the family may have truly escaped.

However, in 2007 another piece of the puzzle popped into place. Investigators announced that they had discovered two additional skeletons, separated from the original gravesite. The site contained bones from a boy between the ages of 12 and 15, definitely the body of Alexei, and a young woman between 15 and 24. Now, Anastasia was 17 and Maria was 19 when they disappeared - both still within the range of possibilities.

In 1994, Russian medical examiner Dr. Sergey Nikitin created forensic facial reconstructions of the bodies found in the first gravesite, including 3 of the family’s attendants. So we don’t have reconstructions of the 2 bodies found later in 2007.

I want to really dig into the mystery of what examiners call “Skeleton number 6” - the one that belongs to either Anastasia or Maria. The Russians firmly believe that Skeleton Number 6 belongs to Anastasia, but the controversy is still raging. At one point, Skeleton number 6 was even identified as Tatiana, but later ruled out due to height.

Even with all of the photographs we have of the family, this girl is just hard to identify. The Romanov siblings all look incredibly similar, and there are very few images of them after their imprisonment. Anastasia was only 15 when the family was moved into captivity, so the young girl we see in photographs probably looks different from what she would look like as a more mature adult.

Nitkin’s forensic reconstruction of Tatiana is the only one that I find just doesn’t match her appearance in photographs. So I’ve made 2 re-creations for her - one that matches the forensic reconstruction, and one that is more of a photocomposite.

Of course, forensic models aren’t always accurate. There are certain things that skull reconstructions can’t touch, like the soft-tissue features. The precise shape of the lips, Face fullness in certain areas, etc. I think Tatiana just has a face where her soft-tissue features really define her appearance.

While I’m not a forensic scientist, to me, this reconstruction of Skeleton 6 is almost certainly of Anastasia. When brought to life, it looks like the more mature version of the young Anastasia we see in photos. Since I believe we are missing Maria from these images, I’ve also made a photo composite of her. What do you think?

This video creation and final image are ©Royalty Now.