The grandson of President Warren G. Harding and a lover has asked a court for permission to dig up the Republican’s remains.

James Blaesing asked a court in May for the 29th president’s disinterment as a way ‘to establish with scientific certainty’ that they are related.

Harding’s legal heirs oppose the move.

They say they have already accepted DNA evidence that Blaesing’s mother, Elizabeth Ann Blaesing, was the daughter of Harding and Nan Britton.

The dispute looms as benefactors prepare to mark the centennial of Harding’s 1920 election with site upgrades and a new presidential centre in Harding’s hometown of Marion, Ohio.