Philip is related to the last of the Romanovs, the royal family who were overthrown in the Russian Revolution, as the Tsarina was his great-aunt. The last Tsar, Nicholas II, and his wife Tsarina Alexandra Feodrovna — who was one of Queen Victoria’s favourite grandchildren — were assassinated along with their children by the Bolsheviks in 1918. However, their youngest daughter, Anastasia, was rumoured to have escaped from the execution because her burial site could not be found for decades.
The Tsar, Tsarina and three of their daughters’ remains were discovered in 1991 in an abandoned mine.
The bodies of the youngest child, Alexei Niklaevich, and another daughter — who is thought to be Anastasia or her sister Maria — were discovered in 2007.
All of the Romanov bodies were identified when Philip gave a sample of his blood to help scientists test the DNA of the remains back in 2018.
Yet, for decades other women claimed they were the lost Grand Duchess, Anastasia.
The Tsar, Tsarina and three of their daughters’ remains were discovered in 1991 in an abandoned mine.
The bodies of the youngest child, Alexei Niklaevich, and another daughter — who is thought to be Anastasia or her sister Maria — were discovered in 2007.
All of the Romanov bodies were identified when Philip gave a sample of his blood to help scientists test the DNA of the remains back in 2018.
Yet, for decades other women claimed they were the lost Grand Duchess, Anastasia.
READ MORE: Why TWO of Prince Philip’s aunts were canonised into saints
There was a range of evidence which seemed to match up to her story, as Refinery29 explained: “The same graphologist who’d identified Anne Frank’s diary analysed Anderson and Anastasia’s handwriting, deeming it identical.
“She had a scar where Anastasia had a mole removed. Her feet bore similar bunions.”
Her face was also examined by renowned anthropologist and criminologist Dr Otto Reche.
He claimed that “such coincidence between two human faces is not possible unless they are the same person or identical twins”, while others noted how she seemed aware of small details from Anastasia’s childhood, too.
Indeed, the Russian Orthodox Church refuses to acknowledge the final two skeletons found in 2007 as royal remains.
However when the location of the Tsar’s family was revealed, Ms Anderson’s hair and medical samples of her tissue were examined and it was found that her DNA did not match either the living nor the dead Romanovs.
Even so, TIME magazine has listed her as one of the top 10 imposters in history.
