The Romanovs had hemophilia because Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Tsar Nicholas II, was a carrier of the genetic disorder, having inherited it from her maternal grandmother, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.
The Royal Connection: Queen Victoria's Legacy
The hemophilia gene entered the Russian royal family through Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. She was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, who was a carrier of the X-linked recessive gene for hemophilia. Queen Victoria passed the gene to several of her children, who then passed it on to various European royal houses through marriage.
Empress Alexandra's mother, Princess Alice (Victoria's second daughter), inherited the carrier gene from Queen Victoria. Princess Alice then passed the gene to her daughter, Alexandra. Thus, hemophilia was transmitted to the Russian royal family specifically through Alexandra's lineage, which included her German Hesser family background (as she was Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine).
This lineage can be traced as follows:
| Generation | Individual | Relation to Romanovs | Hemophilia Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Queen Victoria | Empress Alexandra's Grandmother | Carrier (XhX) |
| 2nd | Princess Alice | Empress Alexandra's Mother | Carrier (XhX) |
| 3rd | Empress Alexandra Feodorovna | Wife of Nicholas II, Mother of Alexei | Carrier (XhX) |
| 4th | Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich | Heir to the Russian Throne | Affected (XhY) |
Hemophilia's Impact on the Romanov Heir
The most famous Romanov to suffer from hemophilia was Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, the only son and heir of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra. Alexei's severe bleeding episodes, which could be life-threatening, caused immense distress to his parents and deeply influenced their reliance on controversial figures like Grigori Rasputin, who claimed to have the ability to alleviate Alexei's suffering.
Hemophilia is a rare genetic bleeding disorder where the blood does not clot properly. This can lead to spontaneous bleeding as well as bleeding following injuries or surgery. The specific type affecting the Romanovs was Hemophilia B, also known as Factor IX deficiency.
A Royal Web of Intermarriage
Queen Victoria is famously known as the "Grandmother of Europe" due to her children marrying into various royal families across the continent. This extensive intermarriage facilitated the spread of the hemophilia gene, making it a "royal disease" that affected the Spanish, German, and Russian royal houses, among others. The X-linked recessive inheritance pattern meant that male descendants were predominantly affected, while female descendants typically carried the gene without showing symptoms.
