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  • Dynasty
  • Britain and Europe
  • 1784 to 1969

The Queen Victoria family tree and the royal disease

This Queen Victoria family tree follows haemophilia B through five generations, from the Queen to great-grandsons who died in the 1930s, with a numbered source for each statement.

The Queen Victoria family tree in portraits

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The Queen Victoria family tree in portraits over five rows, from the parents of Albert and Victoria down through their nine children to Alexei, Alfonso and Gonzalo.

Select a person on the chart, and the row about them opens from here.

The parents of Albert and of the Queen stand at the top, the royal couple below them, their nine children on the third row and the heirs of the disease on the last two.

This Queen Victoria family tree is drawn from the template library.

people on the chart
36
carriers drawn
6
sons with haemophilia
7
foreign courts reached
4
The key

How to read this Queen Victoria family tree

Read the Queen Victoria family tree from the top down, one generation to a row. The key under the chart names every mark.

  • A double ring is the centre

    Queen Victoria is the centre.

  • A colour marks the disease

    One colour is haemophilia B, another a carrier.

  • Lines run down to children

    Below the third row only the line of the gene is drawn.

Haemophilia B

Haemophilia B, the royal disease

Haemophilia was called the royal disease for its effect on the royal houses of Europe.6 The form here was severe haemophilia B, caused by a change in F9, the gene for clotting factor IX.5

The gene lies on the X chromosome and the disorder is recessive, so it shows almost only in men, and a woman with one changed copy usually becomes a carrier.8 On the Queen Victoria family tree the disease therefore passes from carrier mothers to sons. The Queen’s mutation was probably new. Her father, the Duke of Kent, was 51 at her birth.8

In 2009 Evgeny Rogaev and his colleagues tested Romanov remains and named the disease as haemophilia B.5 The tests also showed that a daughter of Nicholas II, Maria or Anastasia, was a carrier.8

Thirteen people

Every carrier and sufferer on the Queen Victoria family tree

Six women on the Queen Victoria family tree carried the gene and seven men had it. The Queen’s eldest daughter appears not to have carried it.8

Carriers and sufferers, by generation.
PersonThroughStatus
Portrait of Queen VictoriaQueen VictoriaA new mutationCarrier
Portrait of AliceAliceVictoriaCarrier
Portrait of LeopoldLeopoldVictoriaHaemophilia
Portrait of BeatriceBeatriceVictoriaCarrier
Portrait of Friedrich of HesseFriedrich of HesseAliceHaemophilia
Portrait of Irene of HesseIrene of HesseAliceCarrier
Portrait of Alix of HesseAlix of HesseAliceCarrier
Portrait of Victoria EugenieVictoria EugenieBeatriceCarrier
Portrait of Waldemar of PrussiaWaldemar of PrussiaIreneHaemophilia
Portrait of Heinrich of PrussiaHeinrich of PrussiaIreneHaemophilia
Portrait of AlexeiAlexeiAlixHaemophilia
Portrait of AlfonsoAlfonsoEnaHaemophilia
Portrait of GonzaloGonzaloEnaHaemophilia

Sources810111213141516171819

1819 to 1901

Queen Victoria, the first carrier

Queen Victoriareigned 1837 to 1901

Portrait of Queen Victoria
Born
1819, Kensington Palace
Crowned
1838, Westminster Abbey
Married
Prince Albert, 1840
Died
1901, Osborne House

Sources13

The Queen’s mother, Victoire, was a sister of Ernest I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the father of Albert, so the couple were first cousins.43 They married in 1840 and had nine children, most of whom married into other royal families of Europe.1 Albert died of typhoid fever in 1861.2

Oil painting of Queen Victoria in a white gown and tiara beside Prince Albert in a dark coat, on red and gold chairs, with five small children around them.
The Royal Family in 1846, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Alice, one of the five children shown, carried the gene to Hesse and Russia.[^c-1846][^w-alice] Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1846 to 1847, public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Haemophilia

Leopold, the son who had it

Leopold, the youngest son, inherited haemophilia and was diagnosed as a child.10 HemAware records that from a very young age he bruised readily and was often in pain.6 He married Helena of Waldeck-Pyrmont in 1882 and died at Cannes in 1884, aged thirty, after a fall.10

Through Alice

Alice and the line to Hesse and Russia

Alice married Louis of Hesse in 1862. Their son Friedrich had haemophilia and died in 1873, aged two, after a fall from a window.11 Her daughter Alix married Nicholas II of Russia in 1894, and their only son, Alexei, was born in 1904 with the disease.14 The illness was kept a state secret, and his mother came to rely on the healer Grigori Rasputin.1514 Alexei was killed with his family at Yekaterinburg on 17 July 1918, aged thirteen.15

Through Irene

Irene and the Prussian line

Irene married her first cousin Henry of Prussia, a son of the Princess Royal, in 1888.129 Heinrich died at four after a fall in 1904.12 Waldemar died at Tutzing in May 1945 because no blood transfusion could be had.13

Through Beatrice

Beatrice and the line to Spain

Beatrice married Henry of Battenberg in 1885, and their son Leopold had haemophilia.16 Their daughter Victoria Eugenie married Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1906. The disease showed when their eldest son, Alfonso, would not stop bleeding after his circumcision.17 Gonzalo died in Austria in 1934 and Alfonso in Miami in 1938, each of internal bleeding after a car crash.1918

1819 to 2009

The Queen Victoria family tree in dates

  1. Victoria is born

    At Kensington Palace.

  2. Leopold is born

    The first son with the disease.

  3. Frittie dies

    After a fall.

  4. Alexei is killed

    At Yekaterinburg.

  5. The Spanish infantes die

    After car crashes.

  6. The form is named

    Haemophilia B, from Romanov remains.

Sources151011151819

Thirty-six people

The people on the Queen Victoria family tree

Each person on the Queen Victoria family tree has a row. Choose a period to list the people alive in it.

Who was alive

All 36 people on the chart are listed.

The people on the chart, in the order of its rows.
PortraitPersonYearsLifeOn the chart
Portrait of Ernest IErnest IFather of Albert1784–1844Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Sources4

Portrait of Louise of Saxe-Gotha-AltenburgLouise of Saxe-Gotha-AltenburgMother of Albert1800–1831Divorced from Ernest in 1826.

Sources4

Portrait of Edward, Duke of KentEdward, Duke of KentFather of the Queen1767–1820Aged 51 at her birth.

Sources8

Portrait of Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-SaalfeldVictoire of Saxe-Coburg-SaalfeldMother of the Queen1786–1861A sister of Ernest I.

Sources4

Portrait of Prince AlbertPrince AlbertPrince Consort1819–1861He died of typhoid fever.

Sources2

Portrait of Queen VictoriaQueen VictoriaQueen, 1837 to 19011819–1901The first known carrier.

Sources18

Portrait of Frederick IIIFrederick IIIGerman Emperor1831–1888Married the Princess Royal.

Sources9

Portrait of Victoria, Princess RoyalVictoria, Princess RoyalGerman Empress1840–1901Probably not a carrier.

Sources89

Portrait of Edward VIIEdward VIIKing1841–1910The eldest son.

Sources9

Portrait of Alexandra of DenmarkAlexandra of DenmarkWife of Edward VII1844–1925Married in 1863.

Sources9

Portrait of Louis IV of HesseLouis IV of HesseGrand Duke of Hesse1837–1892Married Alice in 1862.

Sources9

Portrait of AliceAliceGrand Duchess of Hesse1843–1878A carrier.

Sources811

Portrait of AlfredAlfredDuke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha1844–1900The second son.

Sources9

Portrait of Maria AlexandrovnaMaria AlexandrovnaWife of Alfred1853–1920A grand duchess of Russia.

Sources9

Portrait of Christian of Schleswig-HolsteinChristian of Schleswig-HolsteinHusband of Helena1831–1917Married in 1866.

Sources9

Portrait of HelenaHelenaThird daughter1846–1923Known as Princess Christian.

Sources9

Portrait of John CampbellJohn CampbellDuke of Argyll1845–1914Married Louise in 1871.

Sources9

Portrait of LouiseLouiseDuchess of Argyll1848–1939The fourth daughter.

Sources9

Portrait of ArthurArthurDuke of Connaught1850–1942The third son.

Sources9

Portrait of Louise Margaret of PrussiaLouise Margaret of PrussiaWife of Arthur1860–1917Married in 1879.

Sources9

Portrait of LeopoldLeopoldDuke of Albany1853–1884He had haemophilia.

Sources10

Portrait of Helena of Waldeck-PyrmontHelena of Waldeck-PyrmontWife of Leopold1861–1922Widowed in 1884.

Sources10

Portrait of Henry of BattenbergHenry of BattenbergHusband of Beatrice1858–1896He died of malaria.

Sources16

Portrait of BeatriceBeatriceYoungest child1857–1944A carrier.

Sources616

Portrait of Henry of PrussiaHenry of PrussiaSon of Vicky1862–1929Married his cousin Irene.

Sources912

Portrait of Irene of HesseIrene of HesseDaughter of Alice1866–1953A carrier.

Sources1112

Portrait of Friedrich of HesseFriedrich of HesseSon of Alice1870–1873He had haemophilia.

Sources11

Portrait of Nicholas IINicholas IIEmperor of Russia1868–1918Killed in 1918.

Sources14

Portrait of Alix of HesseAlix of HesseEmpress of Russia1872–1918A carrier.

Sources14

Portrait of Alfonso XIIIAlfonso XIIIKing of Spain1886–1941Married Ena in 1906.

Sources17

Portrait of Victoria EugenieVictoria EugenieQueen of Spain1887–1969A carrier.

Sources17

Portrait of Waldemar of PrussiaWaldemar of PrussiaSon of Irene1889–1945He had haemophilia.

Sources13

Portrait of Heinrich of PrussiaHeinrich of PrussiaSon of Irene1900–1904He had haemophilia.

Sources12

Portrait of Alexei NikolaevichAlexei NikolaevichTsarevich of Russia1904–1918He had haemophilia.

Sources15

Portrait of Alfonso, Prince of AsturiasAlfonso, Prince of AsturiasSon of Ena1907–1938He had haemophilia.

Sources18

Portrait of GonzaloGonzaloInfante of Spain1914–1934He had haemophilia.

Sources19

Three terms

Terms used on the Queen Victoria family tree

Carrier

A woman with one changed copy of the gene, who usually shows no sign of the disease.

Sources8

De novo mutation

A change in a gene that first appears in one person, as the Queen’s probably did.

Sources8

Haemophilia B

A bleeding disorder from a fault in clotting factor IX, also called Christmas disease.

Sources5

Asked often

Questions about the Queen Victoria family tree

Which children of Queen Victoria carried haemophilia

On the Queen Victoria family tree, Alice and Beatrice carried it, and Leopold had it.

How haemophilia reached Russia and Spain

Through Alix, the mother of Alexei, and Ena, the mother of two Spanish infantes.

How to use this Queen Victoria family tree in a class

The PNG and the PDF carry the chart and its portrait credits.

Reference

People and sources

A page of its own lists the 19 numbered sources this article cites. It also gives the credits of the portraits and this page as a reference in the APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard styles, ready to copy.

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