Inter-Marriage and In-Breeding

[eejm]

I always thought that this was lethal; a haemophiliac female. I have asked my paediatrician colleagues at work and they agree

Years ago, my local paper did a feature on a female teenage hemophiliac.  She talked about the drugs she needed to take, and was sad that she had to quit dancing because it caused bleeding in her joints.  She also said that her father having dealt with the disease helped her quite a bit, and she seemed to live a fairly normal life.  Her parents were concerned that she's want children later in life, and that this was likely not possible.  It was years ago, but it was very interesting and now I wish I'd saved the article! 

[Kimberly]

Yep, going off topic here, but I think we are talking "Christmas Disease" or "Von Willibrands" disease.? ...I dunno

[eejm]

Yep, going off topic here, but I think we are talking "Christmas Disease" or "Von Willibrands" disease.? ...I dunno

I'm not sure which type of hemophilia she had, just that in her case, it was genetic (her father had it, mother was a carrier), and that she bled more than usual and had problems with bleeding in her joints.   

[Eric_Lowe]

Not to mention Porythia...The Purple Secret. 

[Kimberly]

Porphyria.

[basilforever]

Not to mention Porythia...The Purple Secret. 

That doesn't have anything to do with that teenage girl with hemophilia which was being discussed. Completely unrelated topic.
That girl's parents must have been aware this would happen - her father was a sufferer, her mother was a carrier, didn't they think of the consequences for their children? It is very dangerous for two such people to have children together.

[eejm]

Not to mention Porythia...The Purple Secret. 

That doesn't have anything to do with that teenage girl with hemophilia which was being discussed. Completely unrelated topic.
That girl's parents must have been aware this would happen - her father was a sufferer, her mother was a carrier, didn't they think of the consequences for their children? It is very dangerous for two such people to have children together.

True, and if I were in that position, I would think twice about having biological children.  But on the other hand, they could have easily had unaffected children as well.  *shrug*

[Kimberly]

A one in four chance of having a "Normal Male"....don't like those odds too much

[eejm]

A one in four chance of having a "Normal Male"....don't like those odds too much

Her mother likely didn't know that she was a carrier until she actually had children.  I want to say the girl was the couple's only child; I can understand why. 

I wonder if, had more of QV's grandsons been hemophiliac and survived to adulthood, whether she would have advocated them marrying their possible carrier cousins?  As we've discussed before, she didn't seem to completely understand which of her granddaughters were potential carriers and which were not, as in the case of the possible Maud and Ernie pairing.  If, for instance, Frittie (Alice's son) had survived to adulthood and had wanted to marry Alice (Leopold's daughter), would QV have approved?

[basilforever]

Well since the bleeding disease was clearly visible in the families of Alice and Leopold, the particular pairing of those two first cousins Frittie and Alice Albany hopefully would have seemed like a bad idea. I hope that hemophilac girl was her parents's only child, because the odds are so bad for two people like that to have children, it is not worth risking it really. Surely the mother must have been aware there was some hemophilia in her family history. Even today hemophilia causes so much suffering, I saw on a documentary once that the hemophiliac community were somewhat decimated when AIDS first appeared, because they got infected blood in their frequent treatment, terrible!

[Eric_Lowe]

do you all think that that dicease had gone out of the House of Windsor already ? 

[Duke of New Jersey]

Well since George VI was born!! That birth "lifted the curse"

Unless somebody in the family marries a carrier of a diesase or there is another mutation of hemophilia the Mountbatten-Windsors seem in the clear. 

-Duke of NJ

[Eric_Lowe]

Although his nephew got "the other dieses"...Prince William of Gloucester had Porphyria (direct link from George II). 

[Duke of New Jersey]

It seems like the ruling line is clear...except for a little alcoholism.

-Duke of NJ

[basilforever]

do you all think that that dicease had gone out of the House of Windsor already ? 

After Queen Victoria, hemophilia was gone from the main line of the British Royal Family, because Edward VII was not a sufferer. No hemophilia carriers married into the main line, so they have been completely clear since!

I can't think of any modern day royals who have hemophilia (males) or are carriers (females) that have it from the original descent from QV, or have it at all. The hemophilia lines from Leopold and the carrier daughters died off.

Well since George VI was born!! That birth "lifted the curse"

No, the "curse" never affected the main line of the British Royal Family from Edward VII onwards, it was gone long out of the ruling family long before George VI.

Although his nephew got "the other dieses"...Prince William of Gloucester had Porphyria (direct link from George II).

Is that really proven, or is it just a suggestion? It was a direct link from George III, not George II I think. It seems strange that it could pass from George III, to his great great great great grandson Prince William of Gloucester. And skipped nearly everyone else.

It seems like the ruling line is clear...except for a little alcoholism.

Really? Who in the ruling line has alcoholism? 

Victoria's parents were 4th cousins (the same degree of relatedness as Edward VII and Alexandra), as this quick chart shows

Well thanks for clearing that up! 4th cousins isn't a close relationship at all. It's not inbreeding. I wouldn't hesitate to marry my 4th cousin for a second if I wanted to! They only had one set of great great great grandparents in common!

due to the changing names of the Ernestine Dukes. 

What does that mean? Why are they called Ernestine Dukes, they did not all have the name Ernest.