Most Famous Royals Who Practiced Inbreeding

When Howard Carter and his team unveiled the Tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in 1922, they were astonished to come across a wealth of treasures, of over one hundred walking sticks believed to be of the use to the boy king. He had an abundance of these sticks among the many other objects he was buried with, evidence of the Egyptian belief that rulers needed their earthly possessions in the next world. But what scientists discovered about Tutankhamun's health shed light on a darker aspect of history: the aftermath of royal inbreeding.

While Tutankhamun's death was attributed to malaria, scientific analysis of his remains suggested a deeper issue: this might be a probable congenital clubfoot intensified by weak bones, which are probably due to the inbreeding in his lineage. Inbreeding, which occurred very often among the nobility whose main objective was to amass power and wealth, reached its zenith in European royal families, where, with each successive generation, the options of marrying diminished until only their own bloodline remained.

Here is one of the most known examples of the dangers of inbreeding that comes from the Habsburg Dynasty, a reign lasting in Austria and Spain. Leopold I, a 17th-century Holy Roman Emperor, bore the physical mark of his lineage: prominent "Habsburg Jaw", of course, a reinforced by generations of intermarriage with the same recessive genes. Leopold's face had jaws of Hogmouth, that became his trademant and a proven story of the danger of relatives unions.

The need to keep blood flowing with none dilution caused an more omnipotent result that is manifested in the person of King Charles II of Spain. Though suffering from many health problems such as epilepsy and severe deformities until his birth, the Charles II era is not related to good governance or efficiency; it just his struggle for survival. Not even alliances with the close relatives could help in the creation of an heir. It was clear as daylight when Charles II died and Spain had no potential for inheritance.

The neurological diseases of royal incest showed that it was not confined to the Habsburgs alone but was shaping the face of English royalty as it was descending from Queen Victoria's lineage. Victoria carries hemophilia in her bloodline and undoubtedly passed it into the royal because she married her first cousin, Prince Albert. Genetic transmissions of inbreeding among kings had effects that caused diverse ailments affecting King George III the mad king and his descendants. Porphyria was one of the recognised diseases that influenced the perception that George III was insane.

Inbreeding also happened in the German House of Hohenzollern even though Kaiser Wilhelm was one the rulers with behavioral problems at the start of World War I due to claims that he inherited some mental illnesses. The daughter of Wilhelm, called Charlotte, manifested the symptoms of a new kind of porphyria what added for the family to their pain related with genetic diseases.

Despite the finishing era of the most inbred royals, the royal blood history has a long lasting impact immortalized in the quirks of the noble family music. While the history teach us the lessons of power and wealth above the needs of future generations, history also teach us about dangers of power and property prioritizing above the wellbeing of coming generations. So when looking back at these stories of the genetic effects, it becomes necessary that we buckle up these practices in history and be sure that we maintain the gene pool unblemished for newer generations.

In a nutshell, the problems of royal inbreeding are moral pedagogies warning against giving free rein to expediency, money and power, which only lead to a very fragile future for all. In regards to the diseases which Tutankhamun used to suffer from or the tragedy which Habsburgs had to undergo, history demonstrates us how genetically isolated blood lines bear the utmost damage. As we go, it is paramount that we reflect on the past lessons and emphasize genetic richness to mature the health and vigour of our populations. Let's make sure that we consign the so-called royal inbreeding tradition to the annals of history, and that the gene pool remains uncompromised of any nuisance for the present days and those to come.