Haemophilia In European Royalty

[Russian]

Russian Emperor Alexander and its Danish wife Maria Fedorovna knew about this illness. Doctors warned the successor of Russian imperial throne, that its bride and future wife Alisa can be the carrier of a gene of a hemophilia and can transfer these genes to the daughters and give birth to the son who too can be infected by this illness.

Alas! The successor has told, that marries only on love, instead of for the state and dynastic reasons.
Alas! After a consecutive birth of four daughters (time in two years) to receive the sick boy!

[Furienna]

I think it's only so sad, that Queen Victoria started spreading all this heamophilia around! So many of her daughter's daughters carried the gene, and at least one son, some grandsons and some great grandsons got the disease. I'm just glad it never came to Sweden. Margareth of Connaught was one of Queen Victoria's many granddaughters, who were married off to different kingdoms, but her father Arthur didn't have the disease, unlike his brother Leopold. So Margareth couldn't spread any haemophilia to her descendants in Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Greece.

[Russian]

The hemophilia extends only women, it daughters and grand daughters on a maternal line. Daughters of suffering this illness cannot be carriers of this illness any more. I read about it.

[wymanda]

Queen Victoria probably didn't realise the ramifications of the problem. The study of genetics was in its infancy at that time and was not generally known about by the general public. When you consider that the Tsarina had two sisters, one of which had children (non of whom were either haemophiliacs or carriers) and that the Tsarevich was born in 1904 (after VRI's death) the effects of the disease on the royal houses was not really known at that time. Princess Alice of Albany had not married, Princess Ena was still unattached, etc .........

[SusanE]

Originally Posted by Russian

The hemophilia extends only women, it daughters and grand daughters on a maternal line. Daughters of suffering this illness cannot be carriers of this illness any more. I read about it.

This is not true. All daughters of hemophilia sufferers are carriers. Men have an X and a Y chromosome while women have two X chromosomes. A women gets an X chromosome from each of parents and a man gets an X chromosome from his mother and a Y chromosome from his father. The hemophilia gene is carried on the X chromosome. So a hemophilia sufferer carries the hemophilia gene on his X chromosome and he passes this X chromosome on to all of his daughters. A hemophilia sufferer's sons will all be hemophilia free because the sufferer will pass on his Y chromosome to all sons. Of course, this is assuming that the wife of the hemophilia sufferer is not a carrier herself.

Queen Victoria's son Leopold was her only hemophilia sufferer descendant to have children. His daughter Princess Alice of Albany had to be a carrier because she had her father's X chromosome that carried the hemophilia gene. His son Prince Charles Edward was free from hemophilia because he had his father's Y gene.

[SusanE]

Originally Posted by Russian

Russian Emperor Alexander and its Danish wife Maria Fedorovna knew about this illness. Doctors warned the successor of Russian imperial throne, that its bride and future wife Alisa can be the carrier of a gene of a hemophilia and can transfer these genes to the daughters and give birth to the son who too can be infected by this illness!

The understanding of the genetics of hemophilia was not fully understood at this time. When Prince Leopold, Queen Victoria's hemophiliac son, was looking for a bride there was more concern over his minor case of epilepsy than his hemophilia. Epilepsy was a social stigma then.

[SusanE]

Originally Posted by Furienna

So many of her daughter's daughters carried the gene, and at least one son, some grandsons and some great grandsons got the disease.

Two of Queen Victoria's daughters, one of her sons, and four of her granddaughters were hemophilia carriers. One son, five grandsons, and four great grandsons had hemophilia. Queen Victoria had nine children, 42 grandchildren and 87 great grandchildren.

Queen Victoria’s Hemophilia Sufferer Descendants

• Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, son of Queen Victoria, died after a fall (1853-1881)
• Prince Rupert of Teck, later Viscount Trematon, son of Princess Alice of Albany who was the daughter of Prince Leopold, died in a car accident (1907-1928)
• Prince Frederick of Hesse-Darmstadt, son of Princess Alice who was the daughter of Queen Victoria, died after falling out of a window, (1870-1873)
• Prince Waldemar of Prussia, son of Princess Irene of Hesse-Darmstadt who was a daughter of Princess Alice, survived to age 56, died in a clinic in Tutzing, Bavaria because of the lack of blood transfusion facilities, married but had no children (1889-1945)
• Prince Henry of Prussia, son of Princess Irene of Hesse-Darmstadt who was a daughter of Princess Alice, died after bumping his head (1900-1904)
• Tsarevich Alexei Nicolaievich of Russia, son of Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt who was a daughter of Princess Alice, murdered by the Bolsheviks (1904-1918)
• Prince Leopold of Battenberg, later Lord Leopold Mountbatten, son of Princess Beatrice who was a daughter of Queen Victoria, died after a hip operation (1889-1917)
• Prince Maurice of Battenberg, son of Princess Beatrice who was a daughter of Queen Victoria, died in World War I, possibly had hemophilia, (1891-1914)
• Infant Alfonso of Spain, son of Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg who was a daughter of Princess Beatrice, died from injuries suffered in a car accident, married but had no children (1907-1933)
• Infant Gonzalo of Spain, son of Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg who was a daughter of Princess Beatrice, died from injuries suffered in a car accident (1914-1934)

[Furienna]

I forgot, that some daughters had to be carriers. Thank you for reminding me of that. I also think it's mindblowing, that Victoria had nine children, fortytwo grandchildren and eightyseven great grandchildren. It's no wonder, that so many royals today are her descendants.

[SusanE]

Originally Posted by Furienna

I forgot, that some daughters had to be carriers. Thank you for reminding me of that. I also think it's mindblowing, that Victoria had nine children, fortytwo grandchildren and eightyseven great grandchildren. It's no wonder, that so many royals today are her descendants.

Yes, it is! My point in listing the number of her descendants was to show that the very great majority of them were not affected by hemophilia. Of course, it is probable that some of the daughters of Nicholas II were carriers and would have further spread the disease had they lived.

[Furienna]

I think so too. Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastacia probably were carriers. But no one knew, since it's hard to tell before they have children.

[Warren]

Thank you SusanE for providing this definitive information. Much appreciated.

[SusanE]

Originally Posted by Furienna

I think so too. Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastacia probably were carriers. But no one knew, since it's hard to tell before they have children.

There is a 50% chance that daughters of a mother that is a hemophilia carrier will be carriers so we can assume that two of the daughters were carriers. In actuality, it could be more or it could be less. Women have two X chromosomes and pass one to their daughters. A female hemophilia carrier would have one normal X chromosome and one X chromosome with the hemophilia gene. Since one of these chromosomes would be passed to a daughter, there is a 50% chance that the daughter will be a carrier. Likewise, there is a 50% chance that a son will have hemophilia.

[Russian]

Whether there was somebody from ancestors of English queen Victoria which suffered a hemophilia? Whether Was exposed a genealogical tree of queen Victoria to any serious researches?

[Furienna]

That's the strange thing. No one in Victoria's family had the disease before it was discovered among her descendants. It might have occured just with Victoria herself. The fact that she and Albert were first cousins didn't make it easy for their children to avoid diseases either.

[SusanE]

Originally Posted by Furienna

That's the strange thing. No one in Victoria's family had the disease before it was discovered among her descendants. It might have occured just with Victoria herself. The fact that she and Albert were first cousins didn't make it easy for their children to avoid diseases either.

Victoria and Albert being first cousins has nothing to do with hemophilia. Victoria would have passed on the hemophilia gene no matter whom she married. If Albert had the hemophilia gene, he would have been a hemophiliac. Victoria's children except for Leopold who had hemophilia were quite healthy. She had 9 pregnancies which resulted in 9 live births and all 9 children survived to adulthood. Only Alice (diphtheria) and Leopold (hemophilia) died young. Vicky died of cancer at age 61, Bertie died of heart and respiratory problems at age 69, Alice died of diphtheria at age 35, Alfred died of cancer at age 56, Helena died at age 77, Louise died at age 91, Arthur died at age 92, Leopold died of hemophilia complications at age 31, and Beatrice died at age 87.

Charlotte Zeepvat in her biography of Leopold purposes that there may have been hemophilia in the ancestors of Victoria's mother. Zeepvat has a family tree in her book and shows that quite a number of males died in early childhood. Hemophilia was not really understood until the early 20th century and it is possible that the deaths were caused by hemophilia.

[Furienna]

But weren't Victoria and Albert cousins on her mother's side?

[SusanE]

Originally Posted by Furienna

But weren't Victoria and Albert cousins on her mother's side?

Yes, they were; I did not say they weren't. You refer to diseases Victoria and Albert's children could not avoid because their parents were cousins. Which diseases? The fact that Victoria and Albert were cousins has nothing to do with hemophilia. If Albert had the hemophilia gene, he would have been hemophiliac and we know he wasn't. Victoria would have passed the hemophilia gene on regardless of whom she married. Victoria had the hemophilia gene either because of a spontaneous mutation or because there was hemophilia in her mother's family as I previously posted.

[wymanda]

Yes,
Victoria's mother & Albert's father were siblings. The third sibling was King Leopold of the Belgians.

[SusanE]

Originally Posted by wymanda

Yes,
Victoria's mother & Albert's father were siblings. The third sibling was King Leopold of the Belgians.

There were nine siblings altogether.

1. Sophie (1778-1835), married Count Emanuel of Mensdorff-Pouilly.
2. Antoinette (1779-1824), married Alexander of Wurttemberg
3. Juliane (1781-1860), married Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia
4. Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1784-1844), Albert's father
5. Ferdinand (1785-1851), his son Ferdinand married Queen Maria II of Portugal
6. Marie Luise Viktoria (1786-1851), married (1) Prince Karl of Leinigen (2) Edward, Duke of Kent; Victoria's mother
7. Marianne (1788-1794)
8. Leopold (1790-1865), first king of the Belgians
9. Franz (1792-1793)