Haemophilia In European Royalty


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And brought haemophilia into the family though I don´t exactly know whether this illness is a result of inbreeding. I believe that marrying your first cousin nowadays is considered strange and "annatural" even it might be allowed in some countries. Therefore I don´t think Harry will ever marry one of his first cousins.


The hemophilia had nothing to do with Victoria marrying her first cousin. Victoria was a carrier for it (likely through a random mutation as it wasn't seen in her family previously), which is how it was passed into her descendants - every one of her children had a 50% chance of receiving the gene, and if they received it her sons would have been hemophiliac (it's a X chromosome trait) and her daughters would have been carriers (they couldn't have had it as their father didn't have it). Any daughters of a son with hemophilia were guaranteed to get the gene as well (making them at best carriers; if their mothers were also carriers then they had a 50% chance of getting the disease), and all the children of any daughters who were carriers had a 50% chance of receiving the gene as well.

It spread so thoroughly throughout European royalty not so much because of incest, but simply because Victoria had 9 children who married other European royals. The only time incest would have been at issue with the spread of the disease is when/if any women had it (I can't remember if any such case happened), as her father would have had to have it, and her mother would have had to have been a carrier as well.
 
The haemophilia gene which Victoria is believed to have handed down to two of her daughters and one son is believed by many experts now to have been a rogue gene, a mutation at her conception. Her father, Edward, was an older father and it's considered that such genetic malformations are slightly higher with older parents. Edward was not closely related at all to Victoire, Victoria's mother.
 
:previous: So Victoria would have passed on the mutated, defective, gene on the X chromosome she passed on to her children, regardless of who their father was. The fact she married her mother's brother's son was irrelevant.
 
And brought haemophilia into the family though I don´t exactly know whether this illness is a result of inbreeding. I believe that marrying your first cousin nowadays is considered strange and "annatural" even it might be allowed in some countries. Therefore I don´t think Harry will ever marry one of his first cousins.

No, the hemophilia is not linked to imbreeding. Imbreeding causes an increase risk of genetic disorders, true. Recessive diseases may be more frequent, as if the recessive gene is found in the family, both parents may be a carrier of it. Hemophilia while recessive, is different. It is an X chromosome disease. That is why most who suffer from it are male. Men only have one x chromosome, women have two. For a woman to have hemophilia, she would have to inherit a defective x chromosome from both parents. If she doesn't, she could be a carrier, but not suffer. Men only have one X chromosome, so if they inherit a defective one, they have the disease. Victoria marrying her cousin did not increase her chances of passing on hemophilia to her kids. Albert did not have hemophilia so he was not able to pass it on to his children. Victoria was a carrier, and unfortunately one son had it and 2 daughters passed it on.
 
There as one case of intermarriage between Queen Victorias descendants that had the potential to be a case of the disease being spread or made worse by inbreeding. That was the marriage of Prince Heinrich of Prussia to his first cousin, Princess Irene of Hesse, the sister of Tsarina Alix. They were first cosuins, their mothers were sisters, daughters of QV. Irene was herself a carrier, two of her three sons were Haemophiliac. But it could have been worse. Heinrich could have been Haemophiliac himself. It appears that his mother was fortunate in not possessing the gene and so couldn't have passed it onto her son. But if she had and Heinrich was Haemophiliac then all sons of Heinrich and Irene would have been Haemophiliac, all daughters carriers, and potentially half of the daughters Haemophiliac. That would have definitely been a case of inbreeding creating a worse situation
 
A correction: if Heinrich had been haemophiliac, then all his daughters would have received the gene and been at best carriers. They would have also had a 50% chance of being haemophiliac as well, as their mother was a carrier. His sons, however, still would have only had a 50% chance of receiving the disease.

Haemophilia is an X chromosome trait, so men only need 1 genome to display the trait (as they only have 1 X chromosome), but women need 2. A father is going to give all his daughters his X chromosome and all his sons his Y chromosome, but each child (male or female) of a woman has a 50% chance of getting either 1 of his/her mother's X chromosomes.

The thing I find interesting about the whole thing, though, is that while it's statistically likely that the gene isn't present in Victoria's descendants today, it's very possible that it's still present in some lines. I mean... you can guarantee that Elizabeth II isn't a carrier, as she descends from Victoria in a male-line and her father wasn't a haemophiliac. And the DoE doesn't have it, so he didn't get it through his mother, a female-line descendant of Victoria. But it's possible that the DoE's great-niece, Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia and Serbia is a carrier as she descends in an all female-line from Victoria. It's statistically unlikely as the trait hasn't shown itself in any of her great-grandmother's male descendants, but it's possible.
 
And if there are any royals with haeomophilia: no problem. Unlike in Victorian Era, today with appropriate treatment the quality of life as well the lifespan are pretty normal.
 
Gross, maybe, but totally legal. Remember, Queen Victoria married her first cousin and had lots of children with him.

King Willem III of the Netherlands married his full cousine Princess Sophie von Württemberg. The King's mother, Anna Paulovna Romanova, Grand-Duchess of Russia, was a sister to the Princess' mother, Catharina Paulovna Romanova, Grand-Duchess of Russia... This was pretty normal, also in normal life. The famer's daughter likely would marry the farmer next door who himself maybe was a cousin too: everything to keep the property in the family or to enlarge it. Marriage was not so much about love but about procreation.

In many cultures it is still the norm that the parents choose a partner and often, again to keep things entre nous, it are often relatives. The marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert was, by the standards of those days, a normal relationship.
 
King Willem III of the Netherlands married his full cousine Princess Sophie von Württemberg. The King's mother, Anna Paulovna Romanova, Grand-Duchess of Russia, was a sister to the Princess' mother, Catharina Paulovna Romanova, Grand-Duchess of Russia... This was pretty normal, also in normal life. The famer's daughter likely would marry the farmer next door who himself maybe was a cousin too: everything to keep the property in the family or to enlarge it. Marriage was not so much about love but about procreation.

In many cultures it is still the norm that the parents choose a partner and often, again to keep things entre nous, it are often relatives. The marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert was, by the standards of those days, a normal relationship.

But,the Queen Maria I da Gloria who married her uncle and married their son to her sister...
 
That is an extreme but even then: the throne of Portugal remained in the male agnatic line. By marrying her uncle she avoided a succession war. Back then in 1760 the knowledge of genetica was not like today.
 
And if there are any royals with haeomophilia: no problem. Unlike in Victorian Era, today with appropriate treatment the quality of life as well the lifespan are pretty normal.

I don't think it's possible for any reigning house to develop Victoria-related haemophilia at this point unless they marry other descendants of Victoria. Well, at least not in the main-lines - it's possible for the descendants of Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla to develop it, as her grandmother was a known carrier.

Presently, Harald V, Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, Margrethe II, Felipe VI, and Carl XVI Gustaf are all descended from Victoria, but each one has at least 1 non-haemophiliac man in the line of descent between them and Victoria (or in the case of the DoE, is a non-haemophiliac man).
 
Elizabeth descends through Edward. VII who wasn't a hemophiliac so he can't pass it down. Alexandra, Mary and Elizabeth Bowes Lyon aren't descendants of Victoria.

Philip's Great Grandmother Princess Alice the 2nd daughter of Victoria was a carrier. She passed down to 3 children but not Victoria who is the grandmother of Philip. Her sons George and Louis didn't have hemophilia and neither does Philip so his mother wasn't a carrier. So the current British royals isn't at risk from hemophilia even though Elizabeth and Philip both descend from Victoria.


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We know Alice was a carrier because one of her sons was a haemophiliac, and we know her daughters Irene and Alix were carriers because some of their sons were haemophiliacs - and we know that one of Alix's daughters was a carrier, because testing was done on the remains of all their children showing that one, thought to be Maria, was a carrier.

We don't actually know that Alice's other daughters weren't carriers - Elisabeth and Marie had no children, while Victoria theoretically could have been a carrier and simply not passed it on to her sons. Of her daughters, Louise only had a stillborn child, and Alice only had one son (the DoE). It's statistically unlikely, but still possible.
 
Alice had 4 daughters plus Philip and there isn't hemophilia in the children of the daughters of Alice. So she like her mother Victoria were probably non carriers.


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Which is why I said it was statistically unlikely.
 
We know Alice was a carrier because one of her sons was a haemophiliac, and we know her daughters Irene and Alix were carriers because some of their sons were haemophiliacs - and we know that one of Alix's daughters was a carrier, because testing was done on the remains of all their children showing that one, thought to be Maria, was a carrier.
We all know now that Alexei had haemophilia, but I know I read that one of his sisters showed signs of the disease as well, since she bled more than she should have during what was a simple surgery. I don't remember which sister it was, but maybe it was Maria?
 
Yes, the doctors apparently became a bit panicky when Maria's bleeding wouldn't stop during minor dental surgery. However, Maria must have suffered from a very mild form of haemophilia, if at all, as otherwise she would have bled extensively when she commenced menses.
 
Maria is believed to have been a symptomatic carrier. She wouldn't have been an actual haemophiliac, but she did have some of the symptoms of it, including lower than normal blood clotting. When they tested the remains of the family in 2009 it was discovered that Alexei had haemophilia B (which is the only way we know what type of haemophilia the descendants of Victoria had; none of the others were ever tested), and that Alix and one of the daughters was a carrier. There's dispute as to which daughter; the Russians have said it was Anastasia, the Americans Maria.
 


Alice's daughter Irene married Prince Henry of Prussia. They had 2 hemophiliac sons but no daughters. One of Irene's sons died at age 4.

I'm living in the near of the mausoleum which entombs his body. Do anyone want to see it? I made photos of it with my smartphone. Also his parents are there.
 
That would be very interesting. Thank you, Jotti. That son's death was awful, getting down clumsily from a table top where he'd been messing about as four year olds do.
 
That would be very interesting. Thank you, Jotti. That son's death was awful, getting down clumsily from a table top where he'd been messing about as four year olds do.

Here they are ;)
the child's grave is the one in front of the windows. There is also a YouTube video of the mausoleum taken by a drone:
 

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How sad...

Also, it is not long ago that I realized that Prince Leopold (as in the one of Queen Victoria's sons, who had the disease) was one of our current king's great grandfathers. But the link from Leopold to Carl XVI Gustaf goes through Leo's son, Charles Edward. And since a son can't inherit the disease from his father, it has luckily never come to our royal family. Charles Edward's sister Alice was a carrier though and had at least one son who was a sufferer.
 
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Interesting, and sad. I wonder who looks after the mausoleum, keeps it dust and cobweb-free? It doesn't look as if any flowers are ever left and the building appears to be in a rather lonely spot.
 
a while ago there was a commemoration at this mausoleum. There were also a picture of the guests but it's no longer online. I was wondering why they stood in front of the parents grave and laid down flowers for them. It seems to me that they had no interest for the childs grave. They didn't put any flowers down there.
Could be that the photo I saw was taken early in the moment. Maybe they reveres the child later. Who knows. I really can't say.
 
Ugh I'm just glad it's mostly died out in the families! Having hemophilia must be horrible for the parent (as well as child), considering how much you'd worry. You can totally empathize with Victoria's concerns for Leopold.
 
I don't think it's possible for any reigning house to develop Victoria-related haemophilia at this point unless they marry other descendants of Victoria. Well, at least not in the main-lines - it's possible for the descendants of Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla to develop it, as her grandmother was a known carrier.

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Out of curiosity, how is it known that Sibilla's grandmother (Infanta Beatriz) was a carrier? Did any of her descendants inherit the disease?
 
Out of curiosity, how is it known that Sibilla's grandmother (Infanta Beatriz) was a carrier? Did any of her descendants inherit the disease?

I don't know if it has ever been confirmed, through blood testing. It was highly concerned when she was at marrying age, that she would be a carrier for it. Several suggested marriages failed because of the concern. Her father actually considered not marrying her and her sister off to catholic princes, in fear of spreading the gene. With two brothers having it, and a third who had been born deaf, there was genuine concern the girls may carry it. Other then one grandson, who died at 4 and there are some rumors he may have had hemophilia (never confirmed), none of her descendants have suffered from it.
 
Out of curiosity, how is it known that Sibilla's grandmother (Infanta Beatriz) was a carrier? Did any of her descendants inherit the disease?


You’re quoting a post made 2 years ago, so I’m at a bit of a loss trying to remember exactly what spurred it, but I think there might’ve been a typo; Beatriz of Spain is not a known carrier (none of her sons had haemophilia), however her mother (Victoria Eugenie) was a known carrier, as two of her sons had the disease.

While the disease hasn’t surfaced in the generations between Beatriz of Spain and Sibilla, it is possible that they’re carriers as it’s an all-female line of descent from a known carrier (Victoria Eugenie); Victoria Eugenie - Beatriz - Olimpia - Sibilla. It’s unlikely (there have been a number of men born in each generation as well, but there are no haemophiliacs), but possible. Likewise, it is unlikely but possible that Sibilla’s daughter, Charlotte, is also a carrier.
 
Thank you for the clarification. The original discussion was focused on whether or not haemophilia was still an issue among Queen Victoria's descendants. Based on the information you provided it appears it isn't but could resurface in the future.
 
In thess days haemophilia is a fairly well-to-treat genetic disorder. It absolutely no longer has the serious impact it once had. I think it is no any issue anymore. Especially not since royals seldom marry other royals these days.
 
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