queen victoria family tree of hemophilia

The question then arises: From where did she get that gene? The fact that a princess from Germany could marry a prince from Russia provided more diversification than perhaps could be enjoyed by common people, who usually married within their own town or village.Īn often unnoticed fact about the case of Queen Victoria is that she was the first member of European Royalty to carry the gene of hemophilia.

Also, the royal families of Europe were not really that inbred.

First, it was a common practice among all families of Europe, both high and low, to marry cousins. It has often been stated that hemophilia hit the Royal Families of Europe because of inbreeding. She married Czar Nicholas II of Russia and their son was Alexis Nicolaievich Romanov, who had hemophilia.Īs can be seen from this example, the defective X-chromosome can be carried hidden down an unbroken line of females until a male child is born who is afflicted with the disease. Her daughter was Alexandre Fedorovna, Czarina of Russia. Among the nine children of Queen Victoria, three, Alice, Leopold and Beatrice, are known for certain to have had the gene for hemophilia.įor example, Queen Victoria had a daughter named Alice Maud Mary, Princess of SAXE-COBURG. In this way, all of the Royal Families of Europe caught the gene for hemophilia. Queen Victoria had nine children and all of them married into the royal families of various countries of Europe. It did not matter what he was a prince of, as long as he was a prince of something.ĭisaster struck when Queen Victoria turned out to be a carrier of the defective X-chromosome which carries a gene for hemophilia. For example, a princess of England could marry a prince of Spain, of France, of Germany or of any other place. He did not have to be a prince from her own country, however. For example, if a girl was a princess, she had to marry a prince. The Royal Families of Europe at that time were almost required to marry each other. This was done because it was thought to strengthen the purity of the blood. For example, Thomas Jefferson married both of his white daughters to their cousins. It was also common until recently in Europe and in Colonial America. This is done because of the dowry system and to keep the money in the family. However, in Middle Eastern Countries like India it is still common for cousins to marry. It is also not a good idea for cousins to marry each other. For this reason, almost all societies have incest taboos that brothers and sisters cannot marry each other, because of the possibility of hemophilia and other genetic diseases. By far the most likely way for this to happen would be for her parents to be related to each other. The only way a woman can suffer from hemophilia is to get the defective gene from both of her parents. This means that half of the male children of a female hemophilia carrier will have the disease and half of the female children will carry the disease but will not get it. Victims of hemophilia often die at an early age, so men with this disease rarely live long enough to reproduce.Ī woman has two X-chromosomes but only one of them goes to each child. For this reason, men are much more likely to have hemophilia than women, because if one X chromosome in a woman is defective and the other is OK, she will not get hemophilia. Hemophilia is a blood clotting disease which is caused by a defective X chromosome. However, her great tragedy is that she carried with her the gene for hemophilia.

Queen Victoria, next to Queen Elizabeth I, is regarded as the greatest British monarch ever. Victoria's Secret: Who was Queen Victoria's real father? Victoria's Secret: Who was Queen Victoria's real father?

Queen victoria family tree of hemophilia