The Family and Ancestry of Grand Duchess Maria Teresa

[Rayarena]

Originally Posted by Mariel1

Some noble families are too inbred to secure genetic health. The bringing in of common blood is to be thought of as a plus, in these cases. This is what strengthens a family. If Amerindian blood is brought in, this is one way to strengthen the line. Vice-versa would be true. I am amused by the robber baron reputation of MT's Irish ancestor cataloged here. He, too, robber baron though he might be, brought in another "line" which is a genetic plus. Of course, there are some families who have strong genetic weakness, and bringing them in to a line will not improve it. One might say that some of the European royal families had lines which were not healthy. This is known. Some of these genes are remarkably persistent, others fade more quickly. Maria Teresa seems to be healthy and has produced healthy children, so she in effect proved she had good genes. Her husband's family had some degree of close intermarrying in it, and thus was a greater genetic risk, but here too all seems (from what we can see) to have gone well. May they be blessed to continue in health! What fine looking children came from Maria Teresa and Henri. Best looking bunch on the block!

Actually, despite Henri's less variant blood line [royal on both sides and high degree of intermarriage no doubt], it seems that his family is healthier than M-T's. After all, his father is already in his 90's [I believe] and he is still alive, while M-T's parents are both deceased. In fact, M-T's mother died at a relatively young age. I think that I saw somewhere that she died a few years after M-T's marriage to Henri, 1988 to be precise [if I am correct].

I pray that M-T is healthy and that her children are too, but I have heard that her maternal family had a propensity to die of cancer at an early age. In Cuba, I was told that before castro rose to power, they had founded a hospital that specialized in cancer patients due in part to the family's tragedy.