Memorial to Russian royal family unveiled on Isle of Wight Published duration 8 July 2018

image copyright Barton Manor image caption The Russian royal family visited Barton Manor on the island in 1909 as guests of Edward VII

A monument has been unveiled on the Isle of Wight to mark the 100th anniversary of the deaths of the Russian royal family.

Tsar Nicholas ll and his family were killed by Bolsheviks in July 1918 , the year after the Russian Revolution.

The royal family had visited the island in 1909 and had watched the Cowes Week yachting regatta.

East Cowes councillor Karl Love said the memorial reflected how "history was made" in the town.

The seven-and-a-half-tonne granite monument was unveiled in Jubilee Park, East Cowes, close to Osborne House which the Romanov family visited in the years before World War One.

image copyright Karl Love image caption The seven and a half-tonne granite monument was unveiled in Jubilee Park, East Cowes

Tsar Nicholas II and his family visited nearby Barton Manor as guests of Edward VII in 1909 and the Tsar is also known to have paid a visit to Quarr Abbey.

The Tsarina's sister is also buried at St Mildred's Church, Wippingham, which was Queen Victoria's church when she lived at Osborne House.

image copyright Karl Love image caption The unveiling of the Romanov Mounument was part of a weekend of commemorative events on the island

Descendants of the Romanovs as well as Russian Orthodox bishops and a choir from Minsk, Belarus, attended the unveiling which was part of a weekend of commemorative events on the island.

The memorial was gifted by members of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Romanov Society who revere the Tsar's sister-in-law who was later made a saint.

Organiser David Hill said: "We hope it will bring visitors and pilgrims from around the world.