Queen Victoria illegitimate, biographer says

The Globe and Mail ^ | 2002-09-01

[Lessismore]

London — A book to be published this week says that Britain's Queen Victoria may have been illegitimate, possibly undermining the whole Royal Family's legitimacy, the Sunday Times reported.

In his book The Victorians, acclaimed biographer A.N. Wilson alleges that Victoria's mother, Princess Victoire of Leiningen, had a lengthy affair with her Irish-born secretary Sir John Conroy and that he, rather than Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, was Victoria's real father.

Buckingham Palace said it would not comment on the allegation.

Mr. Wilson based his argument partly on medical data, the newspaper said.

Records show that the illness porphyria — a hereditary disorder of body metabolism — once ran in the Royal Family, but there is no evidence that Victoria carried it or passed it to her descendants.

Mr. Wilson also writes that Victoria was a carrier for the disease hemophilia, although medical records tracing her mother's ancestors for 17 generations show no evidence of the disease, suggesting Victoria inherited it from Mr. Conroy.

But American researchers on Victoria's medical background said it was "extremely unlikely" that Mr. Conroy had been a haemophiliac, and that the disease was more likely to have resulted from a genetic mutation, the newspaper reported.

Queen Victoria's claim to the crown was through her father, the brother of William IV, who died without children. If Mr. Wilson's suggestion is true, it would challenge the right of Victoria's descendants to the throne, including the current queen, Elizabeth, her great-great-granddaughter.

If Victoria was illegitimate, Prince Ernst of Hanover — the husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco — would be the rightful claimant to the throne, according to Burke's Peerage.

"His ancestor was the Duke of Cumberland, who was Victoria's uncle (and brother of William IV)," Harold Brooks-Baker, publishing director of Burke's Peerage, said.

Mr. Brooks-Baker said he did not believe the claims of illegitimacy in the book and said it was doubtful Queen Victoria's remains would ever be made available for DNA testing.

[Lessismore]

I say, dig her up and let's have a test.

[ChicagoRepublican]

Thank god we had a revolution.

[kitkat]

Well, let's see...in Victorian days they used to save a hunk of hair and have it made into a ring or a brooch as a way to honor the deceased. If anyone has such a memento of Victoria and can prove its authenticity, a DNA test would be possible.

[Utopia]

Mr. Brooks-Baker said he did not believe the claims of illegitimacy in the book and said it was doubtful Queen Victoria's remains would ever be made available for DNA testing.

I'm sure there are hair samples of Queen Victoria still around -- after all it was through tests done on Napoleon's hair samples kept by generations of his faithful followers that determined that Napoleon in fact died of arsenic poisoning.

DNA Tests on Queen Victoria's hair would settle this very easily.

[Utopia]

Well, let's see...in Victorian days they used to save a hunk of hair

I didn't see your point! Great minds, et al ...

[sneakypete]

and said it was doubtful Queen Victoria's remains would ever be made available for DNA testing.

I'm going to go out on a limb here,and say this is what they call a "understatement".

[Sam Cree]

Well, I think this is, like, "who cares" anyway.

[The Person]

Didn't we fight a war to be rid of these Royals?

Who cares?

[CIB-173RDABN]

This only gives hope to the Democrats. 150 years from now they will still be writing books about President Bush and how he did not win the elections.

[A CA Guy]

Alright, anybody else have a great great grandpa also jump the queen. C'mon now, fess up!

[Pining_4_TX]

Who cares is right. I can't understand why Americans fawn over this bunch of inbred morons. And while we're talking about legitimacy, Prince Harry looks a lot more like the riding instructor Di had an affair with than he does Prince Charles. And, speaking of Diana, the British public was ready to turn against her with a vengeance until her tragic death. Then suddenly she became the people's princess. Barf.

[dsutah]

Good grief! Is it any of our business who the British people have for their leader or ruler? They don't have that much power anymore, so why would that have any bearing on you? Just because it wasn't meant for us to have a monarchy, why can't other people have one if they want to? Do you feel threatened by it? Are you an English person?

Queen Victoria was a good woman, and a good ruler as far as we know, why smear her like this now? Who they have for a ruler is not for us to worry about! From what I read in the old form of "Free Britannia", she is the symbol of 'their' sovereignty. It's highly unlikely that they would attack us now, so what is your problem?

[Iwo Jima]

And just how many ascendants to the throne over the past 1500+ years have been illegitimate? For example, do we know that Elizabeth I was really the daughter of Henry VIII? How many kings have "produced" an heir by such "alternative" means?

If we dug them all up, we just might learn that Joe Schmoe of Paducah, Kentucky is the "real" king of England. And would anybody care?

Well, maybe Joe would.

[x]

Her parents were married in May 1818 and she was born in May 1819. If she'd been born substantially later -- or earlier -- Wilson's views would carry a lot more weight. But adulterous fooling around that close to the wedding is much less likely, though certainly not impossible.

Victoria and her husband Albert were first cousins. Indeed, they were even more closely related than that, since her father and Albert's mother both came from the same family, as did her mother and his father. Somebody else will know more about the genetics involved, but my impression is that first cousins getting married can be a very risky thing. Can something come out because of such a marriage that hasn't shown itself earlier?

[Cicero]

I know A. N. Wilson from having read several of his books, including a biography of Milton. The man is an idiot.

[Crazymonarch]

The disease syphilus ran also in the family,it would be doubtful 10 percent of the 'nobility' would be any relation to a Magna Carta signatory

[dread78645]

Well, maybe Joe would.

Ralph. definitely King Ralph.

[AF68]

"Who cares is right. I can't understand why Americans fawn over this bunch of inbred morons."

I can; there are plenty of witless Americans who would love to have a real American royal family to fuss over. The closest thing we have is the liberal media fabrication of Camelot and the Kennedy mystique. However, the escapades of America's most dysfunctional family of politicos just can't compare to the pomp and pagentry of genuine inbred royals.

[JessicaDragonet]

This reminds me of the guy who used to leave his wife and kids to go to a bar every single nite. After dinner, he would grab his coat and hat, and while pausing at the door, he would say "goodnight mother of four".

He finally stopped when, one night, after saying "goodnight mother of four".....she said "goodnight father of three".