Member of Russian royal family to be buried in Australia after dying alone under tree

Australian politicians and dignitaries are gathering in Darwin on Monday to pay their respects to a member of the Russian royal family who died alone under a tree.

Leonid Kulikovsky, great grandson of Tsar Alexander III who reigned in Russia during the 1800s, tragically passed away from a heart attack under a tree in Katherine, Northern Territory in September.

The royal's fate wasn't known until the Russian Orthodox Church in Australia, Father Michael Protopopov, returned from Moscow having learned a member of the Romanov family had died in the Northern Territory.

"No one knew of his royal heritage," Simon Andropov, the Russian representative in the Northern Territory who found Kulikovsky at a Darwin morgue last week, told Australia's national broadcaster on Monday.

Kulikovsky who also has links to the British and Danish royal families, completed his education in Denmark. After working for a short period in Denmark, he immigrated to Australia, living incognito in Sydney before travelling around the country on retirement.

Andropov said Kulikovsky managed to travel as far as Katherine before having troubles with his vehicle, living in a caravan park with his dog for the past five to six years.

Local politicians and dignitaries, including a representative from the Russian embassy in Canberra are said to pack into a tiny Darwin Serbian Orthodox church that usually only fits "the coffin and a half a dozen people on both sides".

"We'll be expecting a lot more than that," Andropov told the ABC.

"I think Darwin will be honoured to have a royal buried here and the funeral here." Endit