So they tracked down Countess Xenia Nicolayevna Sheremeteva, a great-granddaughter of the czar's other sister (her maternal grandmother, Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia, was the eldest of seven children but only daughter in her family. Interestingly enough, in the next three generations of descent from the czar's niece, there has been exactly one child -- a female, at that. However, Countess Xenia's own daughter, Tatiana, is the mother of two daughters).
I don't know if any other relatives donated DNA samples; but it seems that the match with the Duke of Fife was 98.5%, not 100% as expected. According to Wikipedia, it was because of a mutation. In fact, even the mitochondrial DNA of the czar's brother George did not match his perfectly: they actually exhumed his remains (a rare occurrence). I believe that the remains of his other brother (Michael) have never been found ...
Does anybody know if other relatives did, in fact, get consulted for donating DNA samples? The more persons who participate in the test, the more accurate the results and identification. I would imagine that the genealogy would be traced to the czar's other maternal aunt, Princess Thyra of Denmark. Are there matrilineal descendants of her around?
Just how close was the match with that of Countess Xenia, anyway? Was it actually 100%, or perhaps off because of a mutation? I'm not sure how exactly such a thing could have happened ...
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