Some facts about the Grand Duchesses and hemophilia

From the time of Tsarevich Alexei’s birth in 1904 to the family’s assassination in 1918, the curse of hemophilia dominated the lives of the last Imperial family. The fear and uncertainty caused by the disease, and particularly the guilt felt by Alexandra Feodorovna contaminated Nicholas II’s reign. Ultimately, the family’s dealings with the vulgar peasant Grigory Rasputin, who alone seemed to be able to relieve Alexei’s sufferings, caused the public to lose respect for Imperial Family and decreased confidence in the monarchy.

It is important to remember that only women can transmit the hemophilia gene. Because women have two X chromosomes, one can be damaged but the woman, the carrier, does not show symptoms (usually). Because men have an X and a Y, the X coming from their mother, a man will manifest the symptoms of hemophilia if he inherits her unhealthy X. So-if a woman who is a carrier has four daughters statistically two of them should be carriers. Any son she would have would also have a 50% chance of having the disease.

From left: Tatiana, Olga, Alexei, Maria, Anastasia 1915

Well- it turns out that only ONE of the Grand Duchesses was a carrier of the Hemophilia B gene (the severe form of hemophilia Alexei suffered from). Scientists have tested the remains of all of the Grand Duchesses, including those of the girl found with Alexei in 2007 to determine which of the Grand Duchesses carried the gene. They found that of the three Grand Duchesses buried with their parents in the grave excavated in 1991, only the youngest girl had the gene.

As you probably have heard, there is an ongoing dispute about who was the missing Grand Duchess, Anastasia or Maria. The American scientists believe that the missing girl was Anastasia because none of the skeletons found in the first grave were tall enough to be her. The Russians argue that the missing girl was Maria, based on facial reconstructions they did from the skulls found. I tend to believe that the missing girl was Anastasia, because she simply could not have grown between 4 and 5 inches during the 78 days in the Ipatiev House.

None of the entourage, specifically those who had not seen the girls in months, commented that Anastasia had grown during their time apart when they met again on the journey to Ekaterinburg. Baroness Buxhoeveden maintained that Anastasia was the only Grand Duchess who was shorter than she was long after the family had died. Furthermore, Alexandra expressed in letters in captivity that Anastasia had grown stout and that she hoped she would grow, but she never says in her diary or any other correspondance that Anastasia has grown.

So, in my humble opinion, Anastasia was the missing Grand Duchess and Maria was the one who carried the gene for hemophilia.

Further evidence to support Maria as the carrier comes from her Aunt Olga Alexandrovna, who states in her memoirs that during a routine tonsillectomy in 1914, Maria bled so much that the doctor was afraid to continue. It is now known that some women can be symptomatic carriers, meaning they exhibit less extreme symptoms of the disease itself. This includes reduced clotting of wounds, heavy menstrual bleeding, and excessive bleeding during tooth extractions or operations.

How sad for poor Maria who so badly wanted to marry and have many children!

Sources: The Last Grand Duchess: Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna by Ian Vorres, A Lifelong Passion by Andrei Maylunas and Sergei Mironenko, Left Behind by Baroness Buxhoeveden, Thirteen Years at the Russian Court by Pierre Gilliard, The Romanovs: The Final Chapter by Robert K. Massie, Hemophilia and Europe’s Royal Families by The Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and the Alexander Palace Time Machine Forum.