The Rh Negative Blog

Is Haemophilia still present in European Royals?

Queen Victoria died in 1901 and outlived her youngest son and a grandson, both of whom had the disease. The gene can be passed down the female line without a haemophiliac son being born, but as the family line continues and no haemophiliac sons are born, it becomes less likely that a certain ancestor had the gene and passed it on through the female line.

No living member of the present or past reigning dynasties of Europe is known to have symptoms of haemophilia or is believed to carry the gene for it. The last descendant of Victoria known to have the disease was Infante Gonzalo, born in 1914, although hundreds of descendants of Queen Victoria’s (including males descended only through females) have been born since 1914. However, because the haemophilia gene usually remains hidden in females who only inherit the gene from one parent, and female descendants of Victoria have left many descendants in royal and noble families, there remains a small chance that the disease could appear again, especially among the female-line Spanish descendants of Princess Beatrice.