Royal Scandal Revealed: The Curse of Haemophilia – How Queen Victoria’s Legacy Shaped European Royalty!

Gene Disabilities and Inbreeding Through the Ages

The Origin of Recessive Gene Diseases
A person carrying a defective gene does not necessarily mean that they are in immediate danger. But the risk increases significantly if they marry someone who carries the same recessive gene. In families that are limited in range or over many generations, the probability of inheriting two copies of the recessive gene increases, leading to many dangerous diseases. This phenomenon is called homozygosity.
British Royal Family: Victoria and the Hemophilia Gene

Hemophilia is a genetic condition that prevents the blood from clotting normally, leading to slow wound healing and easy bleeding in the body. Queen Victoria of England passed the gene that causes this disease to many of her descendants.

Queen Victoria and the Hemophilia Gene

Queen Victoria (1819-1901) is believed to have carried the hemophilia gene which she passed on to her children. Although she did not have the disease, because the gene is recessive, Victoria was a carrier of the defective gene. It was not uncommon for royal marriages to involve members of noble families, and Victoria’s recessive gene was passed on to many of her descendants.

The Spread of the Hemophilia Gene

Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and they had nine children, including four sons. However, only her sons were susceptible to the disease, because the gene that causes the disease is recessive and is located on the X chromosome. Women have two X chromosomes, while men have only one. Therefore, a son only needs to receive one copy of the defective gene from his mother to develop the disease.

Consequences for European Royalty

1. Russian Royalty: The hemophilia gene was passed to the Romanov family when Queen Victoria passed it to her son Prince Arthur, and then Victoria’s daughter, Princess Alice, married Louis IV of Hesse. Their son, Friedrich (Friedrich of Hesse), had hemophilia. Friedrich was later the grandfather of Tsarevich Alexei Romanov, the son of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Tsarevich Alexei had hemophilia and this led to many difficult situations in the Russian royal family, as the disease was one of the factors contributing to the instability of the Romanov dynasty.

2. Spanish Royalty: The hemophilia gene also spread to the Spanish royal family. Princess Beatrice, daughter of Queen Victoria, married the Duke of Battenberg, and from there the disease was passed to the Spanish royal line. Their son, Prince Leopold of Battenberg, suffered from hemophilia.

3. German royalty: The gene was also passed on to the German royal family, where many members were affected by hemophilia. For example, Princess Victoria, daughter of Queen Victoria, married Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia and had several children with the disease.

Lasting and Tragic Effects

The hemophilia gene has contributed to major tragedies in royal history. In the Romanov family, Tsarevich Alexei was the most prominent figure affected by the disease. Alexei’s poor health put the Russian royal family under great strain, and the search for a cure for the disease was part of the reason the Romanovs sought out a superstitious physician, Grigori Rasputin, who was said to have been able to cure the Tsarevich.

However, Alexei’s health condition could not be saved, and eventually, the Romanov family was overthrown in the Russian Revolution in 1917. The tragic death of Tsarevich Alexei, along with the members of his family, ended an era of imperialism in Russia.

Genetics and Warnings

The hemophilia gene, because of its strong hereditary nature, has become a classic example of how disease genes can spread in royal families, especially when marriages between members of the royal family take place to protect power and wealth. In the case of Queen Victoria, although she did not have the disease, she unwittingly passed the recessive gene down to several generations, causing serious consequences for many members of the royal family and related families.