Haemophilia in European Royalty - Today

Today

No living member of the present or past reigning dynasties of Europe is known to have symptoms of haemophilia or is believed to carry the gene for it. The last descendant of Victoria known to suffer from the disease was Infante Don Gonzalo, born in 1914, although dozens of descendants of Queen Victoria's (including males descended only through females) have been born since 1914. However, because the haemophilia gene usually remains hidden in females who only inherit the gene from one parent, and female descendants of Victoria have left many descendants in royal and noble families, there remains a small chance that the disease could appear again, especially among the female-line Spanish descendants of Princess Beatrice.

• Infanta Beatríz's two sons were not affected by the disease. Beatriz's eldest daughter, Sandra, has two children, a son and daughter. Her son is not affected, and her daughter has two sons, who are apparently unaffected. Beatríz's youngest daughter, Olimpia, had six children; her two eldest daughters, Beatrice and Sibilla are both married with children, none of whom, in the case of their sons, appear to be haemophiliacs. If Sibilla's descendants were to express or transmit the gene, however, another reigning dynasty of Europe would, in the 21st century, join the rest of the reigning families that inherited the disease from Queen Victoria. Olimpia's youngest daughters are still unmarried, but there is still a chance they could be carriers. Another daughter, Laura, died as a child, as did her only son, Paul, the latter of whom was apparently not a haemophiliac.
• Infanta Maria Cristina had four daughters, all potential carriers. Her eldest daughter, Vittoria Eugenie, had a daughter and three sons, the latter all apparently unaffected. The Infanta's second daughter, Giovanna, had only one child, an unaffected son. Her two youngest daughters, Donna Maria Teresa and Donna Anna Sandra, also have only daughters. Of these, only one, Maria Teresa's second daughter, Isabel, is married, but she also has only a daughter. There is a chance the disease may remain in this branch of Princess Beatrice's descendants.