Alexandra's secret book

[Erika]

I tend to think of Alexandra as a hypochondriac who, consciously or not, rather enjoyed being treated as an invalid.

If you read John Rohl's book 'Purple Secret', porphyria tends to manifest itself in digestive problems and periodic high fevers (in George III's case the delirium from these was mistaken for madness). William of Gloucester's porphyria manifested itself mainly in skin trouble. As far as I'm aware, Alexandra did not suffer from any of these. That's not to say that she did not have porphyria to a minor degree, but I think that most of her medical troubles were psychological in origin.

She did have some skin trouble, did she not? She suffered from "blotchy skin", but judging from pictures - her skin problems were not as severe as people suffering from porphyria. I always suspected her of suffering from rosacea - hence her "blotchy face" and painful eyes.

[Olga Maria]

She did have some skin trouble, did she not? She suffered from "blotchy skin", but judging from pictures - her skin problems were not as severe as people suffering from porphyria. I always suspected her of suffering from rosacea - hence her "blotchy face" and painful eyes.

I agree with you there, Erika. It’s more likely that disease from what you said and what I’ve read about it.

 
This secret book is interesting. I assume everything is written in code so that only the 2 of them can understand it. I think it’s so sweet, and it shows just how much Alexandra loves coded language (which her daughter Olga inherited). I think she wrote it that way for she wanted Nicholas not just to read something she had written. She wanted him to work on it before finally knowing –  and this is the way she saw that could make that possible, writing in codes ~  And once Nicholas was able to decipher her coded message, I think she thought it would paint a smile on Nicholas’ face because he worked hard just to read what Alexandra wanted to tell him in that little book + the sweet & heartwarming message : )

I also find it sweet that it’s one of the things they brought with them. Just shows how much they cherished each other’s memories since they began. I think that their love story is something which can be aptly described as “They loved each other without knowing when it began, and loved each other without ending.”

[DNAgenie]

I don't want to get into an argument about what diseases Alexandra was suffering from, but there is a fairly persuasive summary of her symptoms  as a possible porphyria sufferer on pp.168-170 of the Book "Royal Maladies: Inherited Diseases in the Ruling Houses of Europe" (2008), by Alan R. Rushton, M.D. Ph.D. The author also pointed out that her mother Alice and her sister Elizabeth also suffered from some of the same symptoms, as did their ancestor Queen Victoria.  They were all descendants of King George III, who almost certainly did have that disease.

[Forum Admin]

ummm, can we please get back onto the topic about the little book Alexandra wrote expressing her love for Nicholas, please??