I read this whole thread because of a renewed interesting the Gloucester illness, Porphyria. I would like to comment on the question as to who had the Porphyria which passed to William, the elder son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester--was it his father, Prince Henry, or his mother,
Princess Alice. Because of the genetic heritage of Henry, Duke of Gloucester, it seems likely that it was he who had the Porphyria. However, his mother had some of the heredity and attributes of people with Porphyria. She was, according to what I've read here and on the Royal Forums, socially conscientious (hard worker) but also reclusive, not drinking at all and finding her best times at home with her family and garden in the country. People with Porphyria find they cannot drink at all, although sometimes, like Henry, and some other royal Porphs one might suspect, they may get drunk and boisterous and "chew up the carpet", as one quote said in this thread. (I have Porphyria, and have read extensively on groups devoted to this, and know my own characteristics, which include inability to drink at all).
Alice was descended from Stewart royals, being an "illegitimate" descendant of Charles II, as was Princess Diana. (Prince Charles is a legitimate descendant of Charles II). This puts her in the area of Stewart susceptibility to Porphyria. Porphyria comes from a dominant gene, and the way it works it this: 50% of children, on average, get it, but 75% of children get it who are descended from two parents with the gene. I have not closely read her heredity, so it's likely she had fewer direct Stewart ancestors than did Prince Henry. Many of the Stewart monarchs either had Porphyria or may be considered suspect, and it's possible that the gene which struck George III, a Hanover, came through his Stewart descent from James I/VI through James' daughter Elizabeth.
Prince Henry was, if I recount accurately, the direct descendant of George III, the most famous royal victim of Porphyria, who definitely "tore up the carpet" when he was in his Porphyria attacks, but was normal when not in attack.
There are always a myriad of possible symptoms and behaviors which could indicate porphyria, but they could indicate other things as well, so who knows for sure which royals had it, except for those strongly pinpointed such as George III and William, the son of the Prince Henry.
We know from DNA that either Queen Victoria or Prince Albert had it, since their daughter Vicki was DNA'd as having it, as Vicki's Charlotte.
Permission was given by the families of Vicki and Charlotte to disinter their graves and take DNA samples from their bones, and they were positive. So the Porphyria came through at least that far.
Sometimes people like Victoria, who probably had porphyria (unless Albert was the donor to his children) stave off the attacks by eating a lot of carbohydrates and getting heavy. Carbohydrates and sugar fight off the porphyrin metabolism defect. Glucose infusions are one treatment. Prince Henry is also said to have been "bovine".
The current Duke of Gloucester, the younger son of Princess Alice, married a lovely lady who was a commoner. And his children married commoners. There is no public record of any of these people having Porphyric episodes. Probably Richard Gloucester, the present Duke, did not inherit the gene, and his children do not have it either. Wonderful. Princess Alice would be happy.
Princess Alice is said to have "diagnosed" her son William with probable porphyria by seeing lesions on his face. His porphyria type, Variegate, VP, sometimes produces skin lesions, especially in those who are out in the sun a lot. The very fact that she knew this was a symptom shows that she knew something about Porphyria.
Well, enough rant.
