A "Royal Disease"
Haemophilia is sometimes referred to as the "royal disease" because it affected the royal families of England, Germany, Russia and Spain in the 19th and 20th centuries. Queen Victoria of England (1819-1901), is believed to have been the carrier of haemophilia B. She passed the trait on to three of her nine children. Her son Leopold died of bleeding after a fall when he was 30 years old. Her daughters, Alice and Beatrice, passed it on to several of their children. Alice's daughter married Tsar Nicholas of Russia, and their son, Alexei had haemophilia. Haemophilia was carried through various royal family members for three generations after Victoria, then disappeared.