Queen Victoria’s descendants suffered from “Christmas Disease”
Alexei in 1912
“Science” journal published results of a study which found that some of Queen Victoria’s male descendants suffered from a severe form of blood clotting disorder Haemophilia B, also known as the Christmas Disease. Although it has already been known that the British Queen’s descendants were affected by Haemophilia, this is the first time the exact form of the disease was identified.
The scientists examined DNA samples extracted from the remains of the Romanovs and found that Tsarevich Alexei suffered from Haemophilia B, while one of his sisters, Anastasia, was a carrier. Alexei and Anastasia were the children of Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra, and female-line descendants of Queen Victoria: they inherited the mutation from their mother, who was Queen Victoria’s granddaughter.
Haemophilia lowers the level of the chemicals that cause blood to clot after injury. Haemophilia A, resulting from a lack of clotting factor VIII, is the most common form, affecting one in 5,000–10,000 males. Haemophilia B is caused by a deficiency of factor IX and affects one in 20,000–35,000 males. Because the disorder is linked to the X chromosome, only males suffer from the disease. This is because males have only one X chromosome, so if that single chromosome is affected, than the male in question will be a victim of the disease. Females only carry it because their second X chromosome is extremely unlikely to have the same mutation. Through Queen Victoria, Royal Houses of Russia, Spain and Germany were plagued with the “Royal Disease”.
The British scientist Sir David Attenborough was honoured yesterday in Oviedo with the 2009 Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences.
Countess Alexandra, as Patron of the Danish Association of the Blind, yesterday handed out prizes to talented young researchers in the field of the prevention and cure of eye diseases of 1.5 million Danish kroner together with the Chairman of the Danish Blind Society, Thorkild Olesen.
King Albert and Queen Paola visited the European Astronaut Center in Cologne, Germany today. They were shown around by Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne. The King and Queen were very impressed by everything they saw, and enjoyed chatting with the astronauts and technicians at the EAC.
