QUEEN VICTORIA HEMOPHILIA FAMILY TREE CODE

The gene mutations for rare bleeding disorders are not carried on the X chromosome and are therefore not sex-linked however, the risk of passing on the condition is greatly increased for consanguineous parents where both parents may carry a copy of the fault in the genetic code which causes the condition. About one third of haemophilia cases occur in individuals where there is no known family history. His daughter, Alice of Athlone, had one hemophilic son (Rupert) and two other children-a boy and a girl-whose status is unknown.Ī) What is the probability that her other son was hemophilic?ī) What is the probability that her daughter (Lady May Albel Smith) was a carrier? Hemophilic?Ĭ).Suppose Rupert married a woman who did not possess the hemophilia disease or trait.Haemophilia is an X-linked inherited disorder that affects males and females, though the bleeding risk in girls and women has traditionally been under-recognised. Let’s take a look at Queen Victoria’s son Leopold’s family. explain how certain people are carriers while other people have the disease).Ģ. Explain the inheritance of hemophilia (i.e. We can trace the appearance of hemophilia as it popped up in Spain, Russia, and Prussia by looking at the family tree.ġ. From there it spread through the Royal Houses of Europe as monarchs arranged marriages to consolidate political alliances. The traditional view is that there was a mutation in either her or in a sperm of her father, Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent. Of course, hemophilia affecting Victoria’s offspring had nothing to do with the curse. A monk, a member of the Kohary family, envied the wealth inherited by the happy couple from the bride’s father, and cursed future generations of Coburgs with the disease. This curse was supposed to have dated from the early nineteenth century, when a Coburg prince had married a Hungarian princess named Antoinette de Kohary. Yet, a whisper about the “curse of the Coburgs” was spread about. The appearance of hemophilia in one of Victoria’s sons upset and confused the Queen, who could only protest that the disease did not originate in her side of the family. However, in spite of all the protection, Prince Leopold died at the age of thirty-one as the result of a minor fall. Throughout his short life, Leopold had suffered severe hemorrhages, and always was described as “very delicate.” Leading the life of a normal youngster was impossible for Leopold because any cut or bump could lead to death and it was necessary to keep him always under strict surveillance. Hemophilia first appeared in Victoria’s family in her eighth child, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. It is doubtful that at the time of writing this letter, the Queen knew exactly what was wrong with her family’s blood.

Her feelings about the necessity of revitalizing what she called the “lymphatic” blood of their houses are reflected in her letter to her daughter Vicky: “I do wish one could find some more black eyed Princes and Princesses for our children! I can’t help thinking what dear Papa said-that it was in fact when there was some little imperfection in the pure Royal descent that some fresh blood was infused… For that constant fair hair and blue eyes makes the blood so lymphatic… it is not as trivial as you may think, for darling Papa-often with vehemence said: ‘We must have some strong blood.’” Queen Victoria had always been worried about the quality of the blood of the British royal family. It became known as the “Royal disease” because it spread to the royal families of Europe through Victoria’s descendants. Hemophilia has played an important role in Europe’s history, for it suddenly cropped up in the children of Great Britain’s Queen Victoria.

Queen victoria hemophilia family tree