DNA tests comparing the remains found in Ekaterinburg to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who was one of the closest living relative, were performed by Dr Gill at the Forensic Science Services, at the Biology Research Science Laboratory in Aldermaston, England.  Furthermore, in the United States, DNA profiles were performed by Dr. Mary-Claire King, from the University of California at Berkeley, and also at the U. S. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, in Rockville, Maryland. The DNA analyses that were completed in the autumn of 1995 confirmed beyond any doubt that the skeletal remains were indeed the remains of the Imperial Family and those of their retainers. 

The whereabouts of the two missing children mystified the investigators and the Russian Commission.  Avdonin informed the Commission, which was made up of government personnel, Russian Orthodox Church representatives and scientists, “if we could find these two bodies, then everything would be clear, everything would be concluded, the story would be complete." Only then could Russia turn over that page of this sad chapter in its history, and admit the error of its past.