After the October Revolution, the family was initially to be tried in a court of law, before the intensification of the Russian Civil War made execution increasingly favorable in the eyes of the Soviet government.

With White Army soldiers rapidly approaching, the Ural Regional Soviet ordered the murder of Alexei, the rest of his family, and four remaining retainers on 17 July 1918.

An official announcement read, "From now on, in accordance with the Fundamental Laws of the Empire, the Imperial title of Heir Tsarevich, and all the rights pertaining to it, belong to Our Son Alexei.".

The mantle was supported on one side by Prince Alexander Sergeiovich Dolgorouky, the Grand Marshal of the Court, and on the other by Count [Paul] Benckendorff, as decreed by custom and wise precaution.

His four small sisters, in short Court dresses, gazed open-eyed at the ceremony, Olga Nicholaevna, then nine years old, being in the important position of one of the godmothers.

Both he and the Empress always confessed to feeling very nervous on these occasions, for fear that the Princess might slip, or that Father Yanishev, who was very old, might drop the baby in the font.Alexei inherited hemophilia from his mother Alexandra, an X chromosome hereditary condition that typically affects males, which she had acquired through the line of her maternal grandmother Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

"[20] An American magazine ascribed Alexei's "ill health" to "the misfortune that so many residences of the Tzars leave much to be desired from the point of view of sanitary science.

I can still hear the plaintive voice of Alexis begging the big sailor, 'Lift my arm,' 'Put up my leg,' 'Warm my hands,' and I can see the patient, calm-eyed man working for hours to give comfort to the little pain-wracked limbs.

[27] His paternal aunt Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia reflected that "the poor child lay in such pain, dark patches under his eyes and his little body all distorted, and the leg terribly swollen.

[46][47] Felix Yusupov, one of Rasputin's enemies, suggested that he secretly gave Alexei Tibetan herbs which he got from quack doctor Peter Badmayev, but these drugs were rejected by the court.

Greg King thinks such explanations fail to take into account those times when Rasputin apparently healed the boy, despite being 2600 km (1650 miles) away.

[55] Gilliard,[56] the French historian Hélène Carrère d'Encausse[57][58] and Diarmuid Jeffreys, a journalist, speculated that Rasputin may have halted the administration of aspirin.

[63] During World War I, he lived with his father at army headquarters in Mogilev for long stretches of time and observed military life.

The hemorrhage was very bad, and he was so ill that he could not be moved immediately when the Bolsheviks relocated his parents and older sister Maria to Yekaterinburg in April 1918.

[69][70] On 30 March (12 April) 1918, Empress Alexandra recorded in her diary: 'Baby stays in bed as fr[om] coughing so hard has a slight haemorrhage in the abdom[en].

Unbeknownst to the killing squad, the Tsarevich's torso was protected by a shirt wrapped in precious gems that he wore beneath his tunic.

People who have pretended to be the Tsarevich include: Alexei Poutziato, Joseph Veres, Heino Tammet, Michael Goleniewski and Vassili Filatov.

Along with the remains of the two bodies, archaeologists found "shards of a container of sulfuric acid, nails, metal strips from a wooden box, and bullets of various caliber."

On 30 April 2008, Russian forensic scientists announced that DNA testing had proven that the remains belong to the Tsarevich Alexei and the Grand Duchess Maria.

In March 2009, results of the DNA testing were published, confirming that the two bodies discovered in 2007 were those of Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria.

[78] A few years later, Gilliard described Alexei as tall for his age, with "a long, finely chiseled face, delicate features, auburn hair with a coppery glint, and large grey-blue eyes like his mother".

[79] Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, his mother's lady-in-waiting, reflected that "he was a pretty child, tall for his age, with regular features, splendid dark blue eyes with a spark of mischief in them, brown hair, and an upright figure".

He began commanding them, but the Finnish officers did not understand Russian and stood in confusion until an aide informed them that Alexei wanted to hear them say, "We wish you health, your Imperial Highness.

[98] According to Gilliard, Alexei was a simple, affectionate child, but the court spoiled him by the "servile flattery" of the servants and "silly adulations" of the people around him.

As of 2015, Alexei's remains had not yet been interred with the rest of his family, as the Russian Orthodox Church has requested more DNA testing to ensure that his identity was confirmed.

He had established this rule in revenge for what he perceived to have been the illegal behavior of his mother, Catherine II ("the Great"), in deposing his father Peter III.

Not wanting Alexei to be parted from the family in this crisis, Nicholas altered the abdication document in favour of his younger brother Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia.

After receiving advice about whether his personal security could be guaranteed, Michael declined to accept the throne without the people's approval through an election held by the proposed Constituent Assembly.

Massie contends that caring for Alexei seriously diverted the attention of his father, Nicholas II, and the rest of the Romanovs from the business of war and government.

[108] Alexei's diary, which was presumably kept by his tutors and relates his daily activities for January and February 1917, is written in both French and English and is preserved in the "Grand Duchess Kseniia Aleksandrovna Papers" collection in the Hoover Institution Archives (Stanford, California, USA).