GERMANY: Curse of Hesse

When tragedy comes to the German grand ducal House of Hesse it strikes with all its fateful weight. First great blow to the ancient German family was the discovery that it had contributed to the spread of the dread blood disease, hemophilia. Marriage of two princes of Hesse to Princess Beatrice, Princess Alice, daughters of England's Queen Victoria, carried this curse to the blood of the imperial Russian and royal Spanish families. Princess Alice married Prince Louis of Hesse and was the mother of Alexandra, last Empress of Russia, who in turn...

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