The Royal Disease: Haemophilia and the Royal Family

Today (17th April) is World Haemophilia Day. Known as “The Royal Disease”, haemophilia is commonly associated with Queen Victoria, who was the first known member of the British Royal Family to be a carrier of the illness. Through Victoria and her descendants, haemophilia had spread across various European monarchies by the 1920s.

Until the birth of Queen Victorias eighth child – Prince Leopold – in 1853, there had been no previous cases of haemophilia amongst members of the royal family, making it’s origin a mystery that historians are eager to solve.

Both men and women can carry the disease, however sons are most likely to show symptoms. It is also impossible for a male carrier to pass the disease onto their sons, making it impossible for Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, to be the culprit.

Queen Victoria’s mother – Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld – had two children (a son and a daughter) from her first marriage; however neither of them or their descendants showed signs of the disease, making it highly unlikely that it came from her. Despite various health issues amongst his family, Victorias father also displayed no symptoms. It is, however, possible that the Duke’s age had caused his genetics to mutate. Edward, Duke of Kent, was the fifth child of King George III and was aged 52 by the time his only legitimate daughter, Princess (later Queen) Victoria, was born so this possibility would make sense. But while this seems like the most feasible explanation, some historians have suggested that Victoria was the result of an affair. Fortunately Victoria inherited the Dukes strong Hanoverian genes so anyone with sense will be quick to rule this theory out!

From the time of Prince Leopold’s birth, Victoria had always been quick to criticise her youngest son, whom she described as “the ugliest and least pleasing of the whole family”. As the he grew older and began walking, the prince was almost always covered in bruises, which had appeared almost out of nowhere. Leopold had often been distressed as a baby and appeared much paler and more sickly than his eight siblings. When he was five years old, the Prince was finally diagnosed with the life-limiting disease. While she was still critical of his appearance, Victoria suddenly grew overprotective over her son’s health, and, as a result, Leopold often found himself isolated in his room away from all potential dangers, including his family. This continued throughout the Prince’s childhood and into adulthood.

Plagued by intense physical pain and loneliness, Leopold’s wrote to his sister Princess Louise on 10th June 1870 saying: “I go on as usual suffering frightfully, at this moment I am in agonies of pain: my knee gets worse daily and I get more desperate daily. If this continues long I shall soon be driven to Bedlam or to Hanwell, where I shall be fortunately able to terminate a wretched existence by knocking out my brains (if I have any) on the walls; that is the brightest vision that I can picture to myself as a future”.

Like most of his siblings, Leopold saw marriage as his only escape from the control of his mother. Suffering from haemophilia and suspected epilepsy, the prince struggled to find a bride. After being rejected by around nine women, Leopold’s eldest sister, Crown Princess Victoria, suggested Princess Helen of Waldeck and Prymont. The two met in September 1881 and had become engaged by the November. Just days before their wedding on 27th April 1882, Leopold suffered a bleed and consequently found himself in agony during the ceremony.

On 25th February 1883, Helen gave birth to their first child, Princess Alice. A year later, doctors instructed Leopold to visit Cannes to avoid the cold English climate, which often caused him joint pain. At the time, Helen was pregnant with their second child and couldn’t travel. Leopold was hesitant to go but Helen insisted he leave for his health. While he was there, the Prince slipped on some stairs and tragically died of a cerebral haemorrhage on 28th March. Four months later, Helen gave birth to their second child, Prince Charles Edward.

While Leopold was the only one of Victoria’s four sons to suffer the affects of the disease, at least two of her five daughters were carriers of the mutated gene. The first to be affected was her second daughter, Princess Alice, who passed it onto her daughters, Princesses Irene and Alix (later Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia), along with her second son, Prince Friedrich.

On 29th May 1873, the two-year-old Prince had been playing a game with his brother, Prince Ernst Louis when he climbed onto a chair next to an open window. The chair then tipped up, causing Friedrich to fall out and onto a balustrade below. While he survived the initial fall, Friedrich remained unconscious from a brain haemorrhage, which has been classed by the haemophilia. The Prince passed away just a few hours later. Understandably Alice never truly recovered from his death.

On 20th March 1889, Princess Irene gave birth to the her first child, Prince Waldemar, and over the next eleven years gave birth to a further two sons, Sigismund and Henry. Waldemar was the first of the boys to be diagnosed with the dreaded disease, which would eventually take his life at the age of 56. Tragically his younger brother Henry wasn’t so lucky and passed away on 26th February 1904 after bumping his head at the age of just four.

In 1895 Irene’s youngest surviving sister, Alix, gave birth to her first child. The year earlier the princess had married Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Before the marriage took place Nicholas’ parents were against the match due to the possibility that Alix might be a carrier of haemophilia. Known as Alexandra Feodorovna after her marriage, Alix and Nicholas had spent years trying to produce a son and heir, who finally arrived on 12th August 1904. However, the celebrations came to an abrupt end when the umbilical cord was cut and the boy, named Alexei, suffered excessive bleeding. While Alix had been used to her uncle and nephew’s suffering with disease, this time it was different. Their only heir was constantly on the brink of death and, as a result, what was left of Alexandra’s popularity had been completely shattered.

As Alexei grew up, Russian doctors failed to find him a cure for his haemophilia. Giving up on medics, the Tsrina turned to her faith for guidance and spent hours each day praying in her Private Chapel. Eventually she stumbled upon Siberian born peasant, Grigio Rasputin, who claimed that “neither the Emperor or you [Alix] can do without me. If I am not there to protect you, you will lose your son”. However, despite his life saving claims, Rasputins treatments mostly including praying for Alexei, advising he rest and forbidding the use of aspirin, which only worsened his symptoms.

In 1912, Alexei suffered a life-threatening haemorrhage in his thigh. The bleed was so bad that doctors feared he would die and even preformed his last rights! Desperate to save her only son and heir, Alix sent a telegram to Rasputin, telling him of the news. In a telegram back, he responded “God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The little one will not die”. Much to the amazement of doctors, Alexei soon began to recover. Tragically, the imperial family was murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918. As a result, we will never know if any of their four daughters were carriers of haemophilia.

Suffering from the illness himself, it’s no surprise that Prince Leopold passed the illness onto his only daughter, Princess Alice, who passed it onto her second child, Prince Rupert. There is also a possibility that her youngest son, Prince Maurice, was also a sufferer. However, I can find little information surrounding his death at five months old.

Queen Victoria’s youngest child, Princess Beatrice, was the last of the royal siblings to spread the illness. In July 1885, Beatrice married Prince Henry of Battenberg. Out of their four children, three of them inherited the deadly disease. The first to show signs of the illness was Prince Leopold. Born in 1889, Leopold had been named after his maternal uncle, who had passed away just four years earlier. Like his uncle, Leopold suffered uncontrollable bleeds and often found himself isolated from his siblings.

Despite concerns over his health, Leopold joined the 8th Isle of Wight Rifles in 1909, before transferring to the 60th Kings Royal Rifle Corps in 1911. Soon after the outbreak of the First World War, Leopold’s regiment was called to fight on the frontline. His position and health restricted him to a non-combat staff appointment, which later got him promoted to Captain, on 14th September 1916.As he got older, he began to suffer from severe joint pain. He often spent winters travelling warmer countries to escape the cold British climate. However, all of this came to an end on 22nd April 1922, when he underwent hip surgery in his home at Kensington Palace. At first, he seemed to be recovering well but the following day he suffered an uncontrollable bleeding, which caused him to pass away at the age of 32.

In 1906, Beatrice’s only daughter, Princess Victoria Eugenie, married King Alfonso XIII of Spain. The King’s mother – Queen Maria Christina – understandably had concerns over the possibility of Victoria Eugenie being a carrier of haemophilia. However, Alfonso simply brushed all concerns away. On 10th May 1907 Victoria gave birth to the couple’s eldest child, Alfonso, Prince of Asturias. With an heir secured, Victorias popularity quickly grew amongst Spanish court. However, this was short lived. During surgery to circumcise the Prince, doctors noticed that he was bleeding more than normal. As feared, he has inherited haemophilia. Alfonso was angry with his wife for infecting his son and never truly forgave her. Over the next seven years, she went on to have a total of six children but unfortunately their youngest, Infante Gonzalo, also inherited the disease and later died in 1934, aged just nineteen.

There is much doubt over whether or not Princess Beatrice’s youngest son, Maurice, was a sufferer of the disease. From what I can tell, the Prince lived a reasonably healthy childhood and went on to serve in the military. In 1914 their Prince had been leading an attack in Zonnebeke near Ypres when he got hit by shrapnel from a shell blast. Although he was still alive and conscious, Maurice’s wounds were clearly fatal and the Prince passed away, aged 23. Each source I read offers different opinions on the prince’s health and, as a result, it is difficult to tell if haemophilia played a part in his death.

While we are certain that none of Queen Victoria’s other sons (Bertie, Alfred and Arthur) had inherited the mutated gene, we will unfortunately never know if their daughters Helena and Louise had been affected. Neither of Helena’s sons suffered from the illness and neither of her two daughters produced any children. Similarly, Princess Louise also passed away childless. I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read today’s article. Please feel free to leave any questions in the comments section below and I will do my best to answer.

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