Romanovs in England

Any? As in 100%? That seems unlikely.

A male will always transmit the disease to his female offspring

it has to do with the xy chromosome. The gene for hemophilia is on the x leg of the chromosome. Since boys have xy, there is only one copy of the gene and so the defective one is used

Girls inherit two copies of the gene. One from their mother and one from their father. Unless both are carriers, they will have one good copy and be carriers but not get the disease

Since the father has only the defective gene, he must pass it on to his female offspring.

He cannot pass the gene to his male offspring as it is on his defective x chromosome which is not passed to males
 
Last edited:
Any girls Alexei would have had would have been carriers, any boys would not have had the disease. Haemophilia is passed on by a defective X-chromosome from the mother.

I'd be far more worried about the girls having a haemophiliac baby son.

As for matches, I think they did try to marry the oldest Olga to Prince Karol of Belgium, but she wasn't very interested and then WWI happened. It is interesting that her consent to the marriage was influential, perhaps her parents wanted love matches for their daughters like they had.

And yes, being separated would be so tough for the family.

There were several matches proposed but again, Nicholas and Alexandra made it clear that their children would choose. That was the explicit response from Nicholas to the Serbian delegation that inquired of the matter.

There were efforts to marry into the Romanians but the offers were rejected. The Romanians didn't seem to care- any Grand Duchess would do. Olga, Tatiana and Marie were all asked about
 
That is correct:
NONE of the male offspring of a male hemophiliac will have hemophilia
ALL of the female offspring of a male hemophiliac will be carriers, and 50% of their male offspring will have hemophilia and 50% of their female offspring will be carriers.
Female hemophiliacs are rare but can happen, ALL of their male children will have hemophilia, and ALL of their female offspring will be carriers.
 
You can have non-haemophiliac children of female carriers. Queen Victoria had several non-haemophiliac boys before she had her haemophiliac son Leopold. It depends which X chromosome is passed on, the good of defective one.
 
Moving on, given their parents want the girls to choose they still need to MEET eligible young men. Though they're a bit like the Bennet girls in Pride and Prejudice, one has to marry well.
 
Moving on, given their parents want the girls to choose they still need to MEET eligible young men. Though they're a bit like the Bennet girls in Pride and Prejudice, one has to marry well.

Whoa, that's an extraordinary analogy, even down to the insane potential mother-in-law and lack of fortune. It breaks down with the fact that Nicky and Alix did love each other.
 
I foresee Americans waving their checkbooks at them to marry their sons. Impeccable credentials, the Tomanov line goes back three hundred years on their father's side. And on their mother's, Queen Victoria herself.

I imagine though if any of those suitors were Jewish, Nicholas would throw them out if the house. The Romanovs had a history of oppressing Jews. Not that any would probably want them.
 

natalieb

Banned
Lenin should have ransomed off at least the daughters to the West. He could have done a lot more for himself, his party and his revolution with pounds sterling than he was able to do with dead bodies.
 
How desperate really? From what I recall the main thing the British aristocracy were desperate for at this time was cash.

Another possibility I'm considering for the girls are rich Americans.
Could be interesting, having one or more of the Grand Duchesses married to a Rockefeller, Aldrich, or--the one that really I find oddly appealing--du Pont. I have a life-sized picture of one of them in the estates in northern DE / southern Chester County, PA. Then too it's always possible some of the High Church Episcopalians from the Philadelphia Main Line might work (say, a Grand Duchess married to a Drexel, Biddle, Cassatt, or Wanamaker?).
 
Lets go with something more romantic. Something the tabloids of the time would just eat up. Have one of the girls fall for one of the Royal Naval officers who come to rescue her and her family. The parents are furious. The two love birds eventually elope. Bonus points if the sailor in question,or one or more of their children, makes a name for themselves in this TL's World War II.
 
I really doubt that Lenin saw the ex-Tsar, whom he called "that idiot Romanov" as a serious menace in 1918. https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/mar/12.htm (To show how completely our of touch with political realities the Imperial couple was: their was main worry was that Nicholas should be put under duress to co-sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk!) So why did Lenin have the Imperial family killed? Probably simply because he hated the entire Romanov dynasty--no doubt partly for the usual political reasons but also because that was the dynasty that had his brother killed...

If Lenin will be mad Stalin will be paranoid. OTL the State Security services (OGPU to NKVD to NKGB) put forward a gargantuan effort to monitor and disrupt the exiled monarchists, even though their chances of returning to power were nil. With the Little Father himself (or at least his family) out there, these efforts will be doubled and redoubled.

Though with all these resources spent on pursuing a pointless goal, there may be less penetration of Western governments.
 
Lets go with something more romantic. Something the tabloids of the time would just eat up. Have one of the girls fall for one of the Royal Naval officers who come to rescue her and her family. The parents are furious. The two love birds eventually elope. Bonus points if the sailor in question,or one or more of their children, makes a name for themselves in this TL's World War II.
Tatiana would be perfect for that. She was a bit of a romantic.
 
A new George in the Romanov family, hopefully Nicholas sees the Mountbatten brother as suitable replacement for his own brother
 

RousseauX

Donor
I foresee Americans waving their checkbooks at them to marry their sons. Impeccable credentials, the Tomanov line goes back three hundred years on their father's side. And on their mother's, Queen Victoria herself.

I imagine though if any of those suitors were Jewish, Nicholas would throw them out if the house. The Romanovs had a history of oppressing Jews. Not that any would probably want them.
Which American family had either monarchist sympathies for at least a penchant for prestige in choosing wives?

The Morgans? Rockfellers? Could this lead to some sort of butterfly where one of the Romanov daughters end up being the grandmother of a US president?
 

RousseauX

Donor
If Lenin will be mad Stalin will be paranoid. OTL the State Security services (OGPU to NKVD to NKGB) put forward a gargantuan effort to monitor and disrupt the exiled monarchists, even though their chances of returning to power were nil. With the Little Father himself (or at least his family) out there, these efforts will be doubled and redoubled.

Though with all these resources spent on pursuing a pointless goal, there may be less penetration of Western governments.
the monarchists or the whites and exiles in general?

After 1917 the monarchists wasn't a threat: but the non-monarchist whites and especially the Mensheviks and the SR were.
 
Which American family had either monarchist sympathies for at least a penchant for prestige in choosing wives?

The Morgans? Rockfellers? Could this lead to some sort of butterfly where one of the Romanov daughters end up being the grandmother of a US president?

I like this! Said Romanov daughter would find it hard to be separated from their close knit family, which would possibly grow closer in their exile.

One major theme of my novel I can see would be the Romanovs adjusting to life as normal people. Nicholas and the girls would possibly be the easiest, Nicholas would have been happy as a country gentleman raising turnips and stuff. The girls were only just beginning to glimpse life outside their gilded cage. Alix would find it hard, not that she particularly liked being Tsarina but I think she was more used to telling people what to do. However, she may like being shut out of her daughters’ social events as I see their grandmother taking charge. Alexei may also find it difficult, he liked to play up mbecause he would one day be the Tsar. Though I was thinking of getting a strict English tutor for him to straighten him out.

As for money, if there’s a pension it may be enough to stave off poverty with maybe what they could get from what they grow. The girls may get a dress allowance in addition to this.
 
Top