How Many of Queen Victoria's Descendants Died from Hemophilia? 

As a carrier of Haemophilia, I want to point out that while it can be painful and simple bumps can be extremely dangerous , that’s mainly for folk that are severe sufferers and mild suffered don’t suffer in the same way. Also, female carriers do suffer with lower factor levels than “normal” and it does affect our periods

28:20 This actually happened to one of my dad’s college friends. His wife died unexpectedly, and then a few months later he died. I think they were both in their late twenties. At the funeral, his mom told everyone that he had had AIDS, and he’d contracted HIV from blood transfusions for his hemophilia, and then he transmitted it sexually to his wife. It’s super tragic, but it was brave of his mom to come out and say that since there was still such a stigma about the disease at the time 😢

I can’t get over Alfonso! I know young people act without thinking when they’re in love sometimes, but it’s still gross how he turned on his wife who *he* insisted on marrying, even though his mother warned him!

Alexandra Feodorovna was actually one of Queen Victoria’s favorite grandchildren, and the Queen decided to watched over Alix and her siblings' education after Alice died. She admired the young, beautiful Alix so much so that she wanted her to marry her cousin, the future George V. It's interesting to hear how history would have turned out if this marriage actually occured. Hemophilia would have been spread to the future monarchs of the United Kingdom. It also would've been interesting if George V had saved his cousins and given them sanctuary (he was a first cousin to the Tsar and Tsarina); maybe the last Romanovs could've survived. Another what if scenario is if Nicolas had changed the succession laws so that Olga could have become empress regnant. History and its many what ifs are fascinating

My oldest and dearest friend died from leukemia in 2006 at the age of 40. Since that time, I have been passionate about blood donation. I could always tell when Lisa had had a blood transfusion before my visits to the hospital. She had so much more energy, and looked so much better. Please donate! ❤

It’s crazy the amount of time and effort you put in these videos , you really are one of the best channels for us crazy history ppl. 👌🏾😅💕

My hearth goes specially to poor Alexei. His parents concern and love for him drove them to Rasputin. May the baby of the romanov family rest in peace alongside his loved ones❤❤❤❤❤🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

You are so right to encourage folks to give blood, if they can! As a regular whole blood donor with a rare blood type, I know my blood is needed for preemies, newborns, burn victims, AIDS patients, and any match with a compromised immune system. My parents were always regular donors, and I am working on my lifetime 12th gallon - but other family members have deferrals and can’t donate. I am glad to know there are people alive today, because I took the time to donate exactly what they needed to get better.

My two grandsons aged 8 and 5 have haemophilia B. They are both well and have a weekly injection of the missing factor. This means they are able to play games and do rough and tumble games. We all treat him just as other members of the family.

it's always so nice to learn things about Queen Victoria's descendants

One of the causes of hemophilia is mutation that can occurs when the father is an older father at conception. Victoria’s father was in his late 50’s when she was conceived. This was most likely the cause of the disease in her family line

I taught elementary school throughout the 1980s. My first year I had a boy in my class who had hemophilia, and trying to keep him safe was almost a full time job on top of my regular duties. If he lost a tooth, got a cut or scrape, fell or bumped into anything I had to immediately call 911 and have the EMTs take him to the nearest hospital ASAP. When he would lose teeth he’d hemorrhage. Because of budget cuts our school didn’t have a full time school nurse, so I had to learn serious first aid skills in order to keep this boy from bleeding out before the EMTS (who were already stretched thin because budget cuts forced them to have fewer teams and very large areas to serve) could get to the school. It was terrifying to witness what is a normal part of childhood turn into a serious medical emergency every time a tooth fell out or he got bumped by another child. A few years later one of my teaching team members had a boy with a even more aggressive form of hemophilia. For his safety he had to use a wheelchair. Even so, he was very athletic and would take dangerous chances by running and playing around when he was outside at recess or PE classes. This was at a time when AIDS was new and blood donors weren’t always screened for AIDS, blood disorders and other illnesses. The fact that an unscreened blood donor might pass AIDS onto him through a transfusion was a very real possibility (until mandatory blood screening became the law of the land), and the thought of that was constantly on his mind. Several times when I was on recess duty I would find him crying in out of the way places on the school grounds. Even though medical research has resulted in many breakthroughs in treating hemophilia I can’t help but feel great sorrow for the parent who inadvertently passes on the hemophilia gene to their child and the children who are born with it and can’t live a “normal” life.😢

If you think about it, it’s pretty miraculous that hemophilia missed the Habsburgs. Sure…they had other problems from their inbreeding, but hemophilia wasn’t one of them. I just find that interesting.

When I learned about x-link recessive in biology class at school, the textbook showed us the family tree of Queen Victoria. I just wondered who are all these people, back then when information was scarce in my country. Who knows years later you would come up with the complete stories of each of the affected family members. What a perfect video

Actually the treatment now doesn't include plasma transfusion anymore because of the antibodies that can appear with the multitude of transfusion needed . There are synthesized clotting factors which are administered once or twice a week and they can give a life very, very close to normal. The treatment is very expensive , that's true. Genic therapy is still in the earlier stages, but hopefully will get there soon.

“She [Victoria’s Mother] had two offspring with a German prince, a son and a daughter. Few medical details are publicly available about the daughter’s line. The son, however, is reported to have died from bleeding from his internal organs in his early 50s. He had two bleeding attacks weeks apart. The local hospital successfully stopped the first bleed but could not stop the second. He died from apoplectic shock consistent with hemophilia.” Hemophilia of Georgia The Royal Disease: A Family History Update on Queen Victoria

Poor Alexei had so much pain in his short life 😔

My oldest was born very premature and underweight. She required a blood transfusion. I am forever grateful for her donor.

I had a coworker who had it, and he was a bit of a daredevil, like some of these princes. He occasionally would be out of work for a week or so at a time but was out longer after he had jumped off of a moving train. He had jumped on it while it was moving slowly through town, not expecting it to speed up outside of town, where he anticipated jumping off of it near his home. Amazingly, he fully recovered.

Girls bleed too! Blieeve her! As both a historian and a female bleeder, I am so glad to see this! I've had over 500 blood transfusions, factor infusions, plasma/cryo and iron infusions, etc. That's a lot of people who have donated to help save others. Thank you!

If I remember correctly, the type of hemophilia Queen Victoria passed on was passed onto her by her own father. Something like his age and health affecting Victoria's genes, if I remember correctly. He was in his fifties when she was born

20:42 Lindsay, your (correct) graphic contradicts what you are saying! A man with hemophilia will always pass the trait on to his daughters because he can only give them his affected X chromosome. Since his Y chromosome is unaffected, he cannot pass it on to his sons.

Love this fundraiser and bringing awareness to the importance of donating blood. My dad survived AML in 1984... he was given over 125 units of blood. At a time when AIDS was very much a danger in donated blood, it added another layer of uncertainty of remission. Superb content as always!

Princess Alice was the strongest carrier. So many hemophilia deaths among her descendants. Heck, even non-hemophilia tragedies rocked her family. Most unlucky among the Saxe-Coburg siblings, definitely.

Plasma center nurse here!! Thank you for bringing awareness to the need for donations. It can take up to 130 donations for enough medicine for one patient for a year. So it is really important to donate.

9:36 Ernest, unfortunately, got his wish in a twisted way. Shortly following his death, most of his near relatives were going to Britain to attend the wedding of his second son Louis and his British fiancé, The Hon. Margaret Geddes. Unfortunately, Ernest’s widow Eleonore, son Georg Donatus, daughter-in-law Cecilie, Georg and Cecilie’s 2 sons Alexander and Ludwig, and Cecilie’s unborn son all perished in a plane crash in Belgium. Cecilie and Georg’s only surviving child who had not been present on the plane, Johanna, died a little less then 2 years later due to meningitis.

I liked the Doctor Who explanation on where the hemophilia in the royal line came from. It was a very fun episode!

Also, there is one known modern descendant of Victoria who has hemophilia-Ferdinand Soltmann, who is twice descended via his maternal grandfather, once from Prince Alfred and once from Princess Alice. Here’s what’s interesting though-we know Alfred was not a hemophiliac, so Ferdinand could not have inherited it from him. And we know Alice was a carrier, so that’s the far more likely option. However if he did inherit from this side, it would mean that Alice passed on the trait to at least THREE of her daughters and that there are more carriers and at least one more sufferer that aren’t documented. The line would go like this: Princess Alice > Princess Viktoria of Hesse (later Marchioness of Milford Haven) > Princess Alice of Battenberg > Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark > Prince Kraft of Hohenlohe-Langenburg > Princess Xenia of Hohenlohe-Langenburg > Ferdinand Soltmann So that would mean that Prince Philip’s mother was actually a carrier and passed the trait on to at least one of his sisters! Allegedly, Kraft’s symptoms were mild, but it was known in the family that he had some clotting issues. Unfortunately he was cremated so we will never know for sure (unless we could exhume Viktoria, Alice or Margarita and test their DNA). Kraft would be the only one of Victoria’s hemophiliac descendants aside from her son Leopold, to father children. Like Leopold, both of Kraft’s daughters would be carriers, but his oldest daughter has no children.

TBF Alexei died from being executed not because of his hemophilia. It was one of the parts leading to the downfall of the dynasty but the major part of it was because his parents were terrible rulers. Poor Alexei is still awaiting burial

Blue blood wasn't because being royal their blood was blue. It came from the Spaniards with light skin (no Moorish DNA) being able to see their blue veins on their arms, so it originally meant "pure" and later it was a used to any group that only married among themselves, i.e Royalty and the Aristocracy.

There is this book called "The Blood Doctor" I read years ago that piqued my interest in Queen Victoria and hemophilia in her family. Can't remember the author, but as far as fictional works go, it was pretty good. Lily Langtree is mentioned as well.

I'm honored to donate platelets twice a month.. Platelets can be stored for only 5 days, before they are unusable, so the need is constant. Also, they can be donated up to twice a month, or 24 times a year. It is mere moments of discomfort (with the needles) to literally potentially save a life. Thanks for the great video!

My partner has Hemophilia type A! While he thank god has a quite mild case it is still such a scary disorder

Rasputin never "cured" or stopped Alexis' bleeding. At most he brought emotional relief to his mother, Alexandra, who had faith in Rasputin; as postulated by the author Robert K. Massie, this probably in turn positively affected Alexis emotionally. There is a well known story of one bleeding incident that happened during WWI. Alexis was at Stavka (army HQ) with his father, and they had to rush back to Tsarskoe Selo because Alexis developed a severe nosebleed. According to accounts by the time they reached the Alexander Palace (the family's home) the boy was at death's door. Alexandra sent for Rasputin, who prayed over Alexis, and the next day he was better. This often-repeated account is attributed to the memoirs of Anna Vyrubova, a somewhat disreputable source, and Grand Duchess Olga, who didn't actually witness it but relied on accounts told to her. However, after the fall of the Soviet Union and the state archives became available, Nicholas' diary and letters from Alexis to his father (who returned to Stavka soon after; that makes me think the episode may not have been as severe as reported) specify that Alexis' recovery was due to the imperial surgeon cauterizing his nostrils; neither of them make any mention of Rasputin. Rasputin was a daring gambler all his life. What did he have to lose to say "your son will not die" to the empress?

For anyone wondering, Maria’s primary suitor for most of her life was Lord Louis Mountbatten (yes, the Duke of Edinburgh’s uncle). Since men are responsible for the genetic code that determines a child’s gender, it’s very likely Maria and Louis, had they married, would like Louis and his wife Edwina, would have had 2 daughters. So the effects of the disease and tragedy therein might have been even longer lasting if Maria had lived to marry.

I so enjoy this channel. I've learned so much here and continue to learn more and more with every video. My grandchildren watch with me and get a history lesson without even trying. Thanks! 💛💛👏👏👏

24:31 This could also be the explanation as to why Empress Alexandra’s sister, and Waldemar’s aunt, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and her husband, Nicholas II’s uncle Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, never had any children, despite being very fond of kids. Both of them would have been well aware of potential for any of their children to have the disease or be carriers of it. They did however, effectively becomes second parents to her husbands niece and nephew, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich and his sister Maria Pavlovna, and to one of Nicholas II’s nephews-in-law, Prince Felix Yusupov

I have the opposite issue. My surgeons said my blood clotted faster than he had ever seen and they don't know why. If I wasn't on blood thinners I would love to donate ❤

A weird nitpick but I feel inclined to mention it - You described Victoria as having "beady eyes" but this is typically used to describe someone with very small eyes. Perhaps you meant protuberant eyes? - which are large eyes that bulge out. That seems to describe Victoria better I think.

Thank you for this video. We have hemophilia in my family. I have a similar clotting disorder called Von Willebrands Disease (which women and men can get alike), so this topic fascinates me…

Thanks as always for such a magnificent video girl! Your work is leagues above all the documentaries on television! Love you, your passion and dedication!

Wow Lindsay! What an original & informative slant on hemophilia & Queen Victoria’s descendants, thank you so much for all of your research, not to mention your terrific grammar and wonderful way of speaking. It’s such a pleasure!

This was incredibly interesting. I am a nurse with a huge interest in English history. ( my mom descended from England) and also the last czar of Russia and his family.. I've always wondered who all inherited the disease and if it was still present in royal families. You did such a great job in the final summary also. Thank You.

I remember first listening to this episode when you first released it on the podcast. Just as heartbreaking listening for a second time.

great work, Lindsay! thank you! 💚

This was so grand. Thank you

This is so fascinating. Thank you for doing this. I love these kinds of knowledgeable period pieces. You did a great job voicing and producing this video. Thank you ❤😊

Okay, so I have watched most of your videos, multiple times, I have never given a care, really, about any of what I have seen, heard and learned. I don’t even know how I happened upon your channel, couldn’t tell you! But, I do know you have awakened the thirst for knowledge, I am excited when I see a new video and have shared my new knowledge in conversation with many. Thank you for what you do, truly, you have helped me obtain genuine love for history, something I didn’t think would matter to me as much as it does. You’re a wonderful escape, time traveling with you is awesome!

Ever since I listened to this on your podcast I've been dying to see the video for it. ❤ Thank you for uploading this and all that you do. This one was such a tearjerker when I heard it and the video was amazing. Keep up the great work in everything you do 😊😢❤

I really enjoy your program. I have been watching them for a long time and you are getting better with each one. Thank you for this one on Queen Victoria's descendants with hemophilia. Each program is better than the last..Keep up the good work.

This is such a beautiful video, wonderfully researched. I have always been so interested in hemophilia and hemophilia in queen victoria's decendants.

Excellent video as always and also raising awareness of donating blood. Congratulations 🎉🎉🎉

I found this video very enlightening and heartbreaking at the same time.

Really good video, Lindsay, but to all who haven’t yet, I rly recommend you to listen to the podcast she has on this topic. It’s a real tearful listen, but really good

I believe there is actually still a haemophiliac living today in amongst the descendants of Queen Victoria, a boy in the Hohenlohe-Langenburg branch whose haemophilia may possibly have arisen by coincidence rather than through this previous haemophiliac lineage. There were also rumours of haemophilia being present in the Weilers (descendants of one of Alphonso XII of Spains' daughters).

This was very well done, thank you.

What a fascinating video! Thanks so much for sharing how we can help.

Absolutely superb!!!! You did it again!!!! Fantastic and I love that this vid also came with purpose!!!!!! Love it please keep up your great work!!!!!!

You are great! Wonderful research. Awesome video!😊😅

Very incredible. So glad to have found the channel

These are my favorite types of videos!

Always interesting stories that keep me glued 😊. Thx.

I believe your interpretation of "blue blood" is not correct. The concept likely originates in medieval Spain as ‘sangre azul’, and is attributed to the rich, powerful families of Castile. As part of their ‘pure Gothic’ descent, they would claim never to have intermarried with another race by drawing attention to their pale skin, which made the blueness of their veins visible. Blue blood was actually used to accentuate their "whiteness." In addition, pale skin has been long associated with the upper class, as they did not have to work outside, as the lower classes did, hence they had pale skin. This even continued into the late 1800s in the US, where women wore sun bonnets to maintain a pale, lady-like complexion.

Thank for this video really appreciate it❤️

The overdosing of Asprin made it even worse.

This was really interesting and well done. Thank you.

You're quickly becoming one of my favorite channels. I didn't know blood donation has benefits! Thanks!

Absolutely fascinating, thank you

Great video, thank you!

So sad. Like a certain sentence for an early death. I can’t imagine the pain their loved ones went through.

Good evening, and Thank You for a Fascinating video!

Thank you for the information on the Romanovs. I always wondered which (if any) of the girls were carriers.

Such a GREAT VIDEO! From a health care providers perspective we could almost show this as an explanation. Great job. Love it. Hope the princesses babies have no effect and also don't carry. ❤

I am really not convinced Maurice had hemophilia. Leopold, yes, but there’s no way they would have allowed a hemophiliac to serve in armed combat. Leopold, for example, only ever had a desk job, but Maurice was in full combat.

The most shocking information I heard on this video was you saying you have a reminder to donate blood every 8-10 weeks because in my country we're only allowed to do it 3 times A YEAR!

You know I’m surprised that no one in more recent generations have it. Especially considering Charles is his own cousin

Pls do a video on royal families of European countries whom had family members whom had disabilities

This video is very well done, but very sad.

Another amazing episode 👸❤️

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna had her tonsils removed as a young teen. She was in danger afterwards due to her blood loss.

Now I know it’s Waldemar who last died of hemophilia among descendants of Queen Victoria. I voted for Gonzalo. Thank you dear Lindsay for historic education! ❤😊

I read recently (and before hearing this in your excellent video) about Rasputin stopping the administration of aspirin. How horrible that aspirin makes bleeding worse! Thank you for this video which puts all of the information about Victoria's family and the effects of the disease on so many of them. I knew a little about the others, and a lot about the disastrous effects on the marriage (not to mention on some of the sons) of Alfonso XIII and Ena, but it was so interesting seeing your graphics and learning more about the specifics and the deaths! Another example of the potential hazards and risks of inbreeding!

Amazing video and you judge an excellent job!

This video answers the question we all had (honestly tho i love your videos)

Very good video and informative. Thank you.

Love your videos

As the father of a son with Type A sever Hemophilia less than 1% clotting ability, and all the literal horrors and indescribable suffering that is a part of their lives, not to mention HIV and AIDS related 97.9% death rate of any Hemophiliac receiving Factor 8 (Type A) and/or Factor 9 (Type B) before Nov. 1985 to quell (not cure) the immeasurable suffering we ,son, mother, father, grandparents etc. have lived through I can't watch this without weeping, and reliving untold horrors. All true and valuable information and for the Sons, parents, and all related family these facts are important to hear and know. There have been times when the devastating pain as a parent buckled my knees, made my eyes, involuntarily, cross and roll back into my skull requiring 5 to 10 min of massage to be able to actually see again.....then off to another midnight run to face pain and suffering on an unimaginable scale. I hope and pray you, the reader, never have a chance to know this reality. There are just not enough words.

I used to donate plasma pretty regularly when I was younger. Sadly the last time I donated (blood that time, not plasma), I nearly passed out afterwards (I recall the staff kept asking me to tell them my name which I thought was strange, I was so out of it). My husband said, "I think they have enough of your blood/plasma now." A few years later when I got pregnant, I was in for a blood test (typical testing for pregnant women), again I nearly passed out and my ears were pounding. It was so weird after years of donating and no issues. Needless to say, every time I needed blood work, I'd have to lay down. So strange and I haven't been able to donate since, for fear of having a similar experience. Wish I could help donate plasma again.

What would the video will covered next? Royal blood line of Liechtenstein, Sweden, Spanish, Japan, Luxemburg Amblosh Royal countries Royal scandal

What a great informational video

Another exceptional video...

Thanks for the video

I had wondered why the Tsar didn't marry off his older daughters to save them during WWI. The fact that they may have been carriers and marriage contracts would have been difficult to make hadn't occurred to me until I watched this presentation. Thank you.

Ryan White’s story was heartbreaking. Poor young man.

Since I am an American cousin to the British Royal family I found this video fascinating. I will be going in for my annual blood tests which now includes Genetics. I will asked the tech to check for hemophilia.

Thank you for reminding people to donate blood. I don't have hemophilia, I have a very rare platelet defect which I passed on to my youngest son. He has need platelet transfusions on a couple of occasions. There are a variety of clotting disorders other than regular hemophilia (Von Willebrand's, Christmas disease, etc.). Everyone who has these will likely need a transfusion at some point in their lives, or blood products. People with leukemia also frequently need transfusions. I am grateful for all the people who do donate. Thank you from me.

Wow, fascinating, thank you!

Very informative. The Romanoff's were such a beautiful family

I'm not surprised by this video's description. Lindsay didn't say that Queen Victoria had 142 great-great-grandchildren.

I agree, this was an interesting video. “Thank You!”❤