Autumn books

Queen Victoria's Gene: Haemophilia and the Royal Family

D M Potts, W T W Potts Alan Sutton, pounds sterling18.99, pp 160 ISBN 0 7509 0868 8

The death of Princess Charlotte in 1817 was mourned by the whole nation. She died at the age of 21, shortly after delivering a stillborn male infant. Their deaths left the succession to the British throne in disarray. Although George III and Queen Charlotte had had fifteen children, Princess Charlotte was their only legitimate grandchild. In the ensuing quest to produce heirs, Prince Edward, the fourth son of George III, married Victoire at the age of 51; and their only daughter, Victoria, became Queen of England on the death of King William IV.

Queen Victoria was a successful dynast whose children and grandchildren married widely among the powerful ruling families of Europe. Queen Victoria's Gene describes the complex interrelationships of the European royal families and their influence on events in Europe. The authors trace the spread of the haemophilia gene from Victoria to the other royal families and speculate about the role that this inherited disease may have played in events leading up to the first world war and the Russian and Spanish revolutions.

Haemophilia was responsible for the early deaths of several princes, and also affected the heirs to the Russian and Spanish royal thrones. Actions of the European royal families certainly contributed significantly to the outbreak of war in 1914, and it is suggested that the Tsar's preoccupation with his son's illness prevented him from taking more effective steps to avoid the war. There is little doubt that the influence of Rasputin over the Russian royal family contributed to its subsequent downfall and the Russian revolution, and that it was his ability to "treat" the haemophiliac tsarevich, Aleksei, that gave Rasputin his power over the family.

The Spanish royal family was also affected by haemophilia. Only one of the five sons of Alfonso XIII, who married Queen Victoria's granddaughter Victoria Eugenia, was healthy. The legacy of heirs disinherited on medical grounds discredited the royal family, although the deep divisions in Spanish society may have made civil war inevitable without this added factor.

The authors devote one chapter of the book to their most controversial supposition: that Queen Victoria may have been illegitimate. They use her mutant haemophilia gene as one of their arguments. They suggest that, in the absence of a previous family history, the chance of a new mutation occurring is less than the chance of an extramarital liaison having taken place. The mutation rate of one in 25000 to 100000 per generation that they give is, however, the prior risk of a mutation occurring in any individual in the population. Given that Victoria was a haemophilia carrier, and that around 25% of cases represented new mutations, it is more likely that Victoria's carrier state was due to a new germline mutation in her parents or grandparents than to her mother having had intercourse with a haemophiliac male in her quest to produce an heir to the throne. A male germline mutation is just as likely to have occurred in Prince Edward as in another potential father. The other lines of evidence set out are perhaps more compelling, although circumstantial and not subject to verification.

There has always been a great fascination in the personal affairs and conduct of members of the royal family. Queen Victoria's Gene provides insights into the character and motivation of various royals which amply satisfy this curiosity. It contains some excellent photographs and is well worth reading, irrespective of whether or not one agrees with the authors' interpretations.--HELEN M KINGSTON, consultant clinical geneticist, St Mary's Hospital, Manchester

View larger version (142K): [in this window] [in a new window]   "Royal Aquatic Excursion," published by Dean & Co (London, 19th centry), shows Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and three children (plus crew)

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