Do you think its weird that Prince Albert and Queen Victoria were first cousins?

Question

Wouldn't that make their family kind of messed up like DNA wise??

Answer 1

Not really the royal families always interbred..and didn't Queen Victoria pass hemophilia into the royal families...

Answer 2

Probably, but in those days marrying ones cousin was common.  Generally, everyone was descended in one form or another from Queen Victoria. Queen Elizabeth and Philip are cousins somewhere along the line also.

Answer 3

No, not at all wierd.  Well, not from the standpoint that that was common among Royalty.  No one was good enough to marry royalty except for more royalty.  So, they were all cousins.  Elizabeth and Philip aren't that far removed.

No.  They didn't understand genetics and close cousins and such until this century, though that DOES explain (in retrospect, we understand these things) the way some of the dynasties died out (look at the Spanish Hapsburgs, the Tudors, the Stuarts, etc.  Interestingly, Victoria's family, beginning with the Hanovers - George I, have been one of the longer, if not longest dynasties in British history).

And, yes, as mentioned above, that CAN mess up a family DNA wise.  Look at Charles, after all....lol .  It IS one reason why all the younger generation of royals have married commoners.  (that, and the fact that they can't stand the other royals...:))

Answer 4

The German royal families were well known for their intermarriage and marriage between first cousins was commonplace.  Spouses could even be related several times over. This link tells you more. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_inter...

Answer 5

If you want to find out about prince albert, go to any tobacco store and ask if they have prince albert in a can. If they say they do, then say, "make sure you dont let the s.o.b. out". Britain is bad enough off with that present gang of royals so one more wont do any good".

Answer 6

No, and- it didn't.

Answer 7

no I THINK ITS WEIRD THAT THEY WERE GERMANS THOUGH

Answer 8

Back then there was nothing unusual in marrying cousins. There were not so many people to choose from & in royal circles, even less if you wanted to keep the blood "pure".

Answer 9

No, inter-marriage between royal members are quite common. The Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs married their sisters and daughters quite frequently to keep the "royal blood" within the family. Incest marriages, however, do affect the "fertility" rate and higher chances of producing offspring  with physical and/or mental disabilities. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert produced quite fairly normal children, and none of them were deformed with physical and/or mental disabilities.

The royal and noble families of Europe have close blood ties which are strengthened by royal intermarriage; the most discussed instances of interbreeding relate to European monarchies. Examples abound in every royal family; in particular, the ruling dynasties of Spain and Portugal were in the past very inbred. Several Habsburgs, Bourbons and Wittelsbachs married aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. Even in the British royal family, which is very moderate in comparison, there has scarcely been a monarch in 300 years who has not married a (near or distant) relative. Indeed, Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are second cousins once removed, both being descended from King Christian IX of Denmark. They are also third cousins as great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. European monarchies did avoid brother-sister marriages, though Jean V of Armagnac was an exception.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inbreeding

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incest

Answer 10

Marriages within the family were quite common -- even the norm -- for the royal houses of Europe. The did this to keep the blood "pure". And you're right, the inbreeding did affect the DNA -- the Spanish Hapsburgs are an excellent example (nieces would usually marry uncles). It was the reason for the War of Spanish Succession: King Charles II of Spain was both so mentally and physically impaired from the amount of inbreeding in the family that he could not produce an heir.

At least Victoria and Albert got away with having a large amount of relatively healthy children.

Answer 11

People of Royalty prefer keeping one family line.  Very rarely do they marry a "Commoner"."

Answer 12

This is normal among royalty. That's why they look weird

Answer 13

Considering that the Act of Succession of 1701 limited British royals to marrying other non-Roman Catholic royals, it would be even more unusual if they had not married first or second cousins.  After all, the gene pool of suitable marriage candidates has gotten progressively smaller through the centuries.  

Perhaps the best known argument against such inbreeding comes from the Romanov Dynasty of Russia: Alexei, the son of Czar Nicholas II, as well as a descendant of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, suffered from hemophilia, a disease which is inherited through the mother.  The Czarina's reliance on Rasputin in an ill-fated effort to save her son helped bring about the overthrow of the Czar during the Russian Revolution; so yes, such marriages did eventually "mess up" Victoria and Albert's descendants DNA wise.

Answer 14

The royals have always  been interbred