ANASTASIA , born at Peterhof, June 5 1901, had blue eyes, fine light-brown hair and a thin, delicate nose like her mother's. People close to the family though she could have become a real beauty when she grew up. As a child she was small and impish. As she grew into her teens she put on weight and become rather round and podgy in Siberia. Alexandra despaired of her weight and hoped it was baby fat to be naturally lost as she grew older. Her weight was a constant source of affectionate harassment in the family.

Alexsej and Anastasia had a close relationship, they seemed to communicate without speaking using some sort of sixth sense. She was always running to his rooms to entertain him with her antics - or steal food from his buffet tables. When the Tsarevich was ill, Anastasia seemed to 'feel' his illness herself. She knew how to distract him, how to make him forget his pain.

Maria and Anastasia were close as well. They had a phonograph player in their room, with a large collection of records. They liked playing them as loud as possible while dancing about their room, pounding on the floor with their feet. They knew the noise could be plainly heard below in their mother's rooms. They thought it great fun to make a big racket for Mama and her guests below. Anastasia played the balalaika and the guitar very well. She and Alexsej liked performing duets or accompany their sisters on piano.

Anastasia was extremely intelligent, but prone to be lazy and inattentive. Her teachers found she learned much faster than her sisters. On the other hand she was easily bored and had trouble focusing on her lessons. She was a cut-up, freely dispensing her own kind of dead-pan, sarcastic humour at the expense of others. The whole family would crack up at her jokes. Nobody was safe from her tongue and brutal observations of other foibles. She had a cutting wit and knew it, it was one of her chief ways of getting attention. Painting was one of her passions, dogs were another. She had one dog named Shibzig, who died of a brain disorder, which left Anastasia inconsolable. She and her canine companion had been inseparable and his death was a great shock to her. For a while after she lost him Anastasia became humourless, quiet and pensive. Little Shibzyg was buried on the Children's Island near the other family dog graves, surrounded by lily-of-the-valley. The children had a special service for him with special hymns and prayers. Later, to help her get over the loss Anya Vyrubova gave Anastasia another little dog, Jimmy, who supposedly died in the Grand Duchess' arms in Yekaterinburg.

Within weeks the White army, the pro-Monarchist forces, arrived in the city to find the Ipatiev house abandoned. They discovered the Imperial family's possessions in the house, but no trace f them or their servants. It was shortly thereafter that a mineshaft was found in the nearby forest of Kopthaikii, in which remnants of clothing and jewels of the family were found. Traces of fire and bits of bone were recovered. The investigator, Nikolaii Sokolov, concluded that the family and their servants had been killed and their bodies had been burned and thrown into the mineshaft. Sokolov had heard rumours that one of the Romanov women had escaped, in fact signs had been posted, by the bolsheviks, around the city after the murder that if any house was found to be housing any female woman they would be persecuted. Sokolov ignored this and concluded that none of the family could have escaped.

In 1991 reports from Russia stated that they had found the bodies of the last Imperial family in the Kopthaikii Forest just outside of Yekaterinburg. At first they stated that all eleven bodies had been found, including the Tsar, his family and servants. But as time passed it became apparent that two bodies were infact missing. One being the Tsarevitch Alexei, and one of his sister. Then Secretary of State James Baker who was visiting Russia at the time offered US assistance in the verification of the bones. He sent world renowned pathologist Dr. William Maples, who helped to determine that the Late President, of the United States Zachary Taylor, hadn't been poisoned as had long been conjectured. He along with his staff travelled to Russia, where they determined the missing daughter to be Anastasia.(This was due to both the age of the teeth and the age of the spines found in the three Duchesses found.) After reviewing Nikolaii Sokolov's report, the White Russian officer who was in charge of investigation the Tsar's disappearance in 1918, one can find evidence that Anastasia's body never made it as far as the four brother's mine. He stated what he found, in the mineshaft where the family's clothes had been burned, six pairs of corsets and since there were six women he thought this proved all had perished. But what he didn't know was that the four Duchesses wore double corsets with diamonds in between, and therefore he had only found three, one missing. In addition he found all of the Duchesses travelling icons, with the exception of Anastasia's icon of Saint Nikolai. For over seven years now people have searched for the missing two bodies, even going so far as to use a bulldozer, yet they have found no trace.

Scientists and doctors who have examine the bodies that were found in Jekatrinebourg have determined that two of the bodies are missing, but they can't agree on which of them who are missing. Well they know that Alexis is missing, but which of the grandduchess, Marie or Anastasia. Most of them decided that it is Marie who is missing, but no one could be really sure. But the fact is, on the funeral they buried the body of what they believe is HIH Anastasia Nikolaievna Romanova.