![]() Those who did were usually crippled by the long-term effects of internal hemorrhages, particularly in the joints, making it one of the most painful diseases known to medicine at the turn of the twentieth century. In Leopold’s day, most people with hemophilia did not make it to adulthood. The status quo for hemophilia research and treatment would not change until the Argentinian physician Alfredo Pavlovsky’s (1907–1984) discovery of different types of hemophilia over a century later. The first transfusion to treat hemophilia was performed by English surgeon Samuel Armstrong Lane (1802–1892) in London in 1840, but transfusions remained incredibly risky and were largely dismissed by the medical establishment. Victoria lived with continuous guilt, once writing, “No one knows the constant fear I am in about him.” 3Įarly attempts at management included the administration of lime, bone marrow, hydrogen peroxide, and gelatin to wounds, particularly in instances of surgery, but as the “defect” was in the blood itself rather than at the wound site, these treatments were almost always unsuccessful. Medical knowledge focused almost exclusively on the treatment of wounds and the prevention of life-threatening bleeding from ice and poultices to splints and periods of indefinite bed rest, the management of symptoms was equally as ineffective as it was maddening. But as Victoria herself lamented, there was no treatment for the disease that severely limited the lifestyle and lifespan of her young son. In fact, the term “haematophilia” was not coined until 1828, when Zurich University student Friedrich Hopff devised the term to describe the phenomenon Otto and others had brought to light. He wrote in 1803, “If the least scratch is made on the skin of some of them, as mortal a hemorrhagy will eventually ensue as if the largest wound is inflicted.” 2 Doctors largely believed that the blood vessels of those with hemophilia were simply more fragile. ![]() The phenomenon had been described by Philadelphia physician John Conrad Otto (1774–1844) as a familial bleeding disorder that affected male members, but his study was largely genealogical in nature, intending to trace the transmission of the disease back through families rather than explore its manifestations. James Clark, with the bleeding tendency “haematophilia.”ĭespite the diagnosis, little was known about the intricacies of blood-related illnesses in the nineteenth century. is often not outgrown & no remedy or medicine does it any good.” 1 The prince continued to have accidents and was diagnosed by the queen’s physician, Dr. It is very sad for the poor Child - for I really fear he will never be able to enter any active service. On 2 August 1859, Victoria shared an anxious exchange with King Leopold of Belgium, writing, “Your poor little namesake is again laid up with a bad knee from a fall - which appeared to be of no consequence. Leopold was described as a delicate child who bruised easily, particularly as he learned to walk. It was not until 1853 and the birth of their eighth child and youngest son Leopold that the first signs of illness hit the royal household. Following a healthy childhood, the young queen married her beloved cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Neither her mother nor her father were known to be carriers nor exhibited any outward symptoms of the disease. When Victoria was born in 1819, there were no outward signs of hemophilia in the British royal family. Highly misunderstood in Queen Victoria’s day, hemophilia not only altered the trajectory of the queen’s own motherhood but heavily influenced the course of European history in the decades following her death. But this legacy was not limited to politics and high culture when Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837, she brought with her a new kind of royal marker that would be passed down for generations, spreading from the beloved “Grandmother of Europe” through her own family to the farthest reaches of the German, Spanish, and Russian courts. Together with her husband Albert and their nine children, Victoria came to symbolize a new, confident age of connection and progress throughout Europe. At just five feet tall, she was a towering presence as a symbol of Britain, of ideal queenship, and of family. 1837–1901) shaped a new role for the position of queen and the idea of her kingdom. Known for restoring the reputation of a monarchy tarnished by the extravagance of her predecessors and reigniting a faith in empire through an embrace of civic and diplomatic duties, the legacy of Queen Victoria (1819–1901, r. ![]() From left to right: Alice, Arthur, Prince Albert, Albert Edward, Leopold, Louise, Queen Victoria with Beatrice, Alfred, Victoria, and Helena. Portrait of Queen Victoria with her husband, Albert, and nine children at Osborne circa 1857.
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