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| | | From: Greensleeves (Original Message) | Sent: 5/12/2008 10:41 AM |
I figured the Mysteries board was as good a place as any for this speculation about porphyria running rampant in the royal family  There are actually 8 different manifestations of porphyria (named for a Greek term for "purple pigment"); nowadays we know tis an enzyme deficiency that allows toxins to collect in the body, & can treat it with drugs. For all we know, Princess Diana (herself descended from the Stuarts on the wrong side of the blanket) just kept forgetting to take her meds  (o don't hiss at me you Diana-lovers LOL). The Arbella bio had a slew of stuff on this condition as it's thought she may have suffered from it. Usually we only attribute this to the Hanoverian line (which descended from Elizabeth Stuart AKA the Winter Queen, daughter of James I). But did you know porphyria seems to be confirmed in the family tree well before the madness of King George?  Through extant doctor's notes, James I himself was said to have had "urine the dark red colour of Alicante wine"; porphyria sufferers often have "purple pee" A 1968 British Medial Association study apparently claims Margaret Tudor had this disease as well! Now I remember when Margaret, pregnant with Margaret Douglas, fled Scotland & it took her yonks to get to London because she couldn't sit a horse long, but I always thunk that was attributed to pregnancy, the aftermath of childbirth (Marget having been born in the North well before Mummy arrived at Uncle Henry's), & it was widely reported she suffered from sciatica as well....back pain, side pain, who knows? Henrietta Anne Stuart AKA Minette, Charles IIs beloved lil sister, they says, also had symptoms of porphyria, & it might have been what killed James I's elder son, Henry. Antonia Fraser points to the "mysterious & hysterical manner" of the demise of James V of Scotland (MQOS's daddy), who allegedly turned his face to the wall & died following the Scots defeat at Solway Moss & birth of MQOS after making his doleful prophecy that the Stuart line "came wi' a lass, & will gie wi' a lass". When Arbella was ill prior to her escape attempt, her doctor reported "her water bad, showing great obstructions". Fasting (since it was determined she died of slow starvation) can trigger an attack & repeated attacks can damage the liver, & hers was said to be diseased at her autopsy. MQOS, also a nice histrionic personality, often suffered from a mysterious pain in her side, a symptom of the disease. <nudges Terrilee for any more MQOS illness info > But lest we blame the Scots, Eleanor Brandon Clifford (Frances's baby sister, who died at age 28) wrote to her husband "I have been very sick & at present my water is very red....I have such pains in my side".....so it was swimming in the gene pool before Margaret Tudor was sent off to wed James IV. Remember how Henry IV was said to have suffered from leprosy? Well, I discovered there's a type of porphyria that affects the skin (see HERE for gruesome pic of such, you is forewarned if you click)....so could it have come from the Plantagenet side of the family? (I'm discounting Henry VI & his nutty French grandpa as porphyria doesn't make one catatonic & made of glass LOL that was a whole nother sort of madness methinks) Can anyone think of any other peeps in the royal tree who may have had symptoms of this disease? And just out of curiousity, does anyone know if anyone's had it since George III? Think mayhap Henry VIII had a touch? |
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The picture of the hands of someone with porphyria looks like pictures of someone with leprosy. It would be hard for anyone to think it wasn't leprosy centuries ago, probably even in these enlightened times as well. |
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