Willy was quite a stranger character indeed
, I don't know if he had porphyria, but I think he's a far likelier candidate than his mother! He had his own rather strange vision of himself and the world, which resulted in a complete denial of reality - especially when reality made him look bad
The breakdowns Willy had also remind me of those his great-uncle, George IV, suffered from too. And there is reason enough to suppose the 'Prince of Pleasure' had porphyria.
Whether Willy had porphyria or not, he sure had issues, one has only to read some of the letters he wrote his mother during his puberty:
"I have again dreamt about you, this time I was alone with you in your library, when you stretched forth your arms & pulled me lower to your chair so that my head rested on your left arm. Then you took off your gloves...& laid your hand gently on my lips, for me to kiss it. [...]In 8 days we will come to Berlin & then what I dreamt about we will do in reality when we are alone in your rooms without any witnesses."Willy apparently had some trouble dreaming about his mother in a solely platonic manner.
Karentje
