5. Prince Charles is the designated next king of England (see Figure 5). His wel

Question

5. Prince Charles is the designated next king of England (see Figure 5). His well publicized marriage to Princess Diana produced two sons before it ended in an acrimonious divorce. Question If you learned that one of the two sons was a hemophiliac, what are the possible explanations for this event? Figure 5. Prince Charles family Victoria Frederick Edward Vill Alexandra of England Wilhelm Sophia George V of Greece George Princess Queen Prince Phllp Margaret Eizabeth Princess Prince Prince Prince Ann Charles Andrew Edward Finally, our speculative natures compel us to mention that in 1995 two British brothers produced a new book (Queen Victorias Gene) with a breathtaking suggestion. Professors Malcom Potts, an embryologist at Berkeley, and William Potts, a zoologist at Britain's Lancaster University, suggest that Queen Victoria might have been illegitimate. They point out that neither her father nor her husband was a hemophiliac. So either there was a spontaneous mutation-a one-in-50,000 chance-or Victoria is the daughter of someone other than the Duke of Kent. Think of the possible consequences to European history: no Victoria, and the current Prince of Hanover, Ernst (descendent of the brother of Victoria's father), would be King of England today. More importantly, no Victoria would mean no hemophilic son of the Czar of Russia, no Rasputin, and no revolution? What are the chances of this scenario?

Explanation / Answer

It is quite well known as a matter of fact that that Queen Victoria was a carrier of the Hemophilia genes, responsible for the trait of hemophilia, which is an X linked recessive trait. So like any other X linked recessive trait, males are either positive or negative, no carrier are possible.

King Edward VII was the son of Queen Victoria, who went on to become the king of the British Empire, did not show any sign of hemophilia, thus it can be assumed with certainty that the hemophilic genes of Queen Victoria did pass down the British royal lineage, which is reflected by the fact no cases of hemophilia was reported from the British royal family till now.

Now if any of the two sons or both of the sons of Prince Charles and Princess Diana have Hemophilia, there is a sheer possibility that the genes has been reintroduced to the royal family by the princess.

Now coming to the second question, that whether Queen Victoria was illegitimate or not cannot be confirmed as we don’t possess the pedigree of the queen’s maternal side.

Without Queen Victoria as a hemophilia carrier, the current history of Europe would be very much different than that we know today.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse 5
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.