Pressure is mounting in Moscow to exhume the bones of the tragic last Russian emperor and his family amid doubts expressed by the Russian Orthodox Church as to their authenticity. The bones which are believed to belong to murdered Tsar Nicholas II, his empress Alexandra and three of their children were dug up in 1991 and are now buried in a crypt in St Petersburg. The famous ruler was forced to abdicate his throne during the First World War in 1917 before he and his family were exiled to western-Russia by the Bolshevik revolutionaries that overthrew him. And on 17 July 1918, the Russian royals were marched into a cellar and mercilessly shot by firing squad on the orders of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin. The proposal to exhume their remains was backed this week by a pretender to the Romanov throne and a senior official in Vladimir Putin's government. The Romanovs: There is growing pressure on the Russian government to dig up the bodies of Russia's last emperor Nicholas II (pictured), his wife Alexandra (centre) and daughters Olga (left), Tatiana (top) and Anastasia (right) - his other daughter Maria and son Alexei (both pictured) were never buried . Remains: The skulls of Nicholas II (right), his wife Alexandra (left) were discovered in 1979 and buried in a crypt in St Petersburg in 1998 - along with their daughters Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia . Forgotten: Although his sisters Olga (left) and Tatiana (right) received a state burial at Peter and Paul Cathedral, Alexei's (centre) remains were never buried . And MailOnline can also reveal that eight years after the discovery of the alleged remains of crown prince  Alexei - brutally shot aged 13 with other members of his family - they have still not been laid to rest. Instead his bones - and those of his sister Grand Duchess Maria - lie almost forgotten in cardboard boxes stashed in the Russian state archive with Putin's government refusing to order a burial in the face of objections from the church. Many will see this as the final indignity to a boy born to be tsar, pictured here in remarkable private family photographs, who was deprived of his throne by the two Russian revolutions of 1917. For three hundred years, the House of Romanov was regarded by millions of Russians as the living embodiment of the Russian nation who believed the tsar was appointed by god to rule the empire. It is widely believed that his remains and those of his wife, their children and several servants were originally found in a forest near Yekaterinburg in 1979 and subsequently dug up 11 years later as the USSR was collapsing. Exhaustive DNA tests were conducted in Britain and the US involving matches with living relatives, including Prince Philip, after which they were interred in a crypt in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in royal capital St Petersburg in a 1998 ceremony. Objections: The Orthodox Church refuses to accept the opinion of leading DNA experts who say the bones are those of the tsar Nicholas II (top left), his German-born empress Alexandra (bottom right) and their children . Concession: A Senior official in Vladimir Putin's government Sergey Mironenko says 'it is necessary to listen to the church' and dig up the royal family's remains. Pictured are the remains of Alexei and his sister Maria, 19, discovered in 2007 and still have not been buried . The Bolsheviks justified the Romanov's murder by claiming their royal relatives were supporting the 'White armies' - as Nicholas II's cousin was King George of Britain. Before murdering them, the chief executioner Yakov Yurovsky said: 'In view of the fact that your relatives in Europe are continuing their assault on Soviet Russia, the presidium of the Ural Soviet had sentenced you to be shot.' Now Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna - a claimant to the defunct throne - has made clear the Russian Imperial House would not oppose exhuming the remains of the tsar and four other members of his family if deemed necessary by Putin's government and the Orthodox Church. Sergey Mironenko, the senior archivist under Putin, said on Spas TV: 'To find out the truth it is necessary to listen to the church representatives and exhume the remains that were buried in Peter and Paul Cathedral.' Behind the controversy is the Orthodox Church's refusal to accept the opinion of a host of leading DNA experts in Russia and the West who say the bones originally found buried in 1979 in the Urals forest are those of the tsar Nicholas II, his German-born empress Alexandra and their children. Despite the bones being interred in 1998 close to other Romanov rulers at a ceremony when tsar lookalike Prince Michael of Kent represented the Queen, the Russian church has refused to accept they are unequivocally the right bones. The discovery of two further sets of small fragments of male and female human remains in 2007 - shown by DNA tests to be haemophiliac Alexei and his sister Maria, 19 - added to the historical mystery. The church refused to bury them with the rest of their family, claiming the scientific proof was insufficient, yet genetic experts say it is '80 trillion times more likely' that the male's bones were Alexei's than not. Regal: For three hundred years, the House of Romanov - eventually led by Nicholas II - was regarded by millions of Russians as the living embodiment of the Russian nation . Taken: Had history taken a different route and the Romanov's not been executed, Alexei (pictured) would have become Emperor and Autocrat of Russia - as well as head of the Orthodox Church . Ironically had history taken a different route, Alexei would have become Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russia's - as well as head of the Orthodox Church. Lawyer for the Russian Imperial House, German Lukyanov, said that if the Russian government requires it the Romanov's descendants would 'not be against further examination' of the bones. He said: 'It is crucially important to consider the opinion of the Russian Orthodox church about possible exhumation, and for society to come to an agreement on this. 'Grand duchess Maria Vladimirovna will support the opinion of Russian Orthodox church. ' Senior official Mironenko said further tests on the bones should be carried out with experts trusted by the church. He was 'strongly against' burying the supposed remains of the crown prince and his sister without new tests which satisfy the Russian church. Church representative Vsevolod Chaplin said there was an understandable desire 'to bury the remains which are now stored in an office' at the archive. Cover up: Regarding the buried bones, a church representative said: 'Many people would like to know the truth - and suspect that the truth is hidden from them' But added: 'Many people would like to know the truth - and suspect that the truth is hidden from them. 'I think that we should allow a wide range of competent experts, and not necessarily only the Orthodox, to the study of all available remains.' In 2011, the Russian Investigative Committee - its equivalent of the FBI - completed a probe into the royal deaths, and concluded based on DNA evidence that the bodies found in the Urals were genuine, including Alexei and Maria. Along with the remains of the 50 year old tsar were his 46 year-old wife Alexandra Fyodorovna, their daughters Olga, 22, Tatyana, 21, and Anastasia, 17. The dismembered bodies of their servants Yevgeny Botkin, 53, Anna Demidova, aged 40, Aloizy Trupp, aged 62, and Ivan Kharitonov, aged 48 were also there - while Alexei and Maria's bodies were dumped 230ft away. The church - and some Romanov relatives - have accepted an earlier White Army investigator called Nikolai Sokolov's account that the royals were disposed of at another location, at a nearby abandoned iron mine at Garina Yama. They were supposed to have been stripped and burned to ashes. Proof: In 2011, the Russian Investigative Committee concluded on DNA evidence that the Romanov bodies found in the Urals were genuine . Doomed: Within a year of this photo being taken, the Russian revolution swept across the country and forced Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate . However others contend that while they were originally thrown into Garina Yama, the royals were later removed to a new burial place by the Bolsheviks to hide them from the White forces which soon retook the area. The church also points to a DNA test which failed to find a match between a handkerchief stained with Nicholas's blood during an assassination attempt in Japan before he became tsar. They stress the bones said to be the tsar's did not show marks from a sword wound in this attack. The scientists leading the identification of the tsar and his family were Peter Gill of the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham, England, Pavel Ivanov of the Genetic Laboratory in Moscow and Michael Coble of the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory in Rockville, Maryland, US. The analysis showed a match between the tsarina Alexandra and Prince Philip. A common female ancestor of both was Queen Victoria. 'The DNA testing was clear and convincing,' said Coble. Proof: In 2011, the Russian Investigative Committee completed a probe into the royal deaths and concluded based on DNA evidence that the bodies found in the Urals did belong to Nicholas II (left) and his family . When the other remains were found in 2007, analysis only confirmed the previous findings, say the scientists. When the boy's Y chromosome was compared with the bones believed to be his father Nicholas II's and a living donor Andrei Romanov who also descended from Tsar Nicholas I - they matched. Finally, a blood sample from a shirt worn by Nicholas during the Japanese attack - stashed in a St Petersburg museum - showed matching DNA. Church sources say they require 100 per cent certainty. The Chaplin said it was important not only genetically match a particular individual fragment remains with other members of the Romanov family, but also to consider the integrity of the skeletons, and whether 'they all correspond to each other genetically'. The lack of a sword wound led to doubts, he said. A final decision on exhumation would rest with President Putin.
Orthodox Church and family's descendants calling for bodies to be dug up . Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate by Russian revolutionaries in 1917 . He and his family were exiled from their home and executed one year later . Their bodies were discovered in 1979 and now rest in a St Petersburg crypt . Remains of Nicholas' son Alexei and daughter Maria have yet to be buried . Church refuses to believe DNA experts who said bodies belong to royals .