COVE

This picture captures Prince Leopold (later Duke of Albany) at the age of 10.

Starting with Queen Victoria, the British royal bloodline was inflicted with hereditary hemophilia. Prince Leopold was the only son of Queen Victoria to inherit hemophilia; he died at just 30 years of age, during a vacation to Cannes which was done for his joint issues that were themselves borne from his condition. In all the pictures of Prince Leopold, it is apparent that Leopold was very dependent on mobility aids. When standing, Leopold is always holding either his cane or nearby furniture; otherwise, he is sitting down. Queen Victoria made use of chloroform as an anesthetic when giving birth to Prince Leopold, just six years after its invention. When Prince Leopold turned out to have hemophilia, the public blamed chloroform; it had already begun to grow controversial as word of chloroform-related fatalities began to surface, but it was also contentious for going against biblical views on childbirth that dictated women must experience pain.