There isn’t a sadder story than that of Prince Alexei Romanov.

There isn’t a sadder story than that of Prince Alexei Romanov.

Like those before him, fate already sealed its deal, way before he found his way into this world.

A promising son of the royal family in Russia, Alexei’s tainted royal blood, cast him into a life of agony and doom right from birth.

The 30th July 1904, was a joyful day for the Romanov family as Alexandra gave birth to their first male child, after having four girls.

On the outside, the Tsarevich looked very normal, but when the time came to cut the umbilical cord, the worst nightmare of the royal family started coming true.

It was during this procedure, that Alexei’s parents’ joys turned into their biggest worry.

When the doctors cut the cord, blood started flowing from his navel.

The worries escalated when the bleeding would not stop.

His blood kept flowing for not only hours, but for two whole days. By the time the blood clotted, the Tsar had worried that the baby had lost around one-eighth of his blood.

This much bleeding could mean only one thing, and the royal couple knew it.

It was clear he suffered from the “royal disease”- haemophilia.

From then on, Alexei was plagued by pain, for all his short life.

Alexei had inherited from his mother, an X chromosome that eventually became his undoing.

Alexandra inherited the mutant gene for hemophilia B, from her grandmother, Queen Victoria.

At six weeks, Alexei experienced a bout of uncontrolled bleeding. The small boy’s suffering proved to be a torture for him, and those around him.

Alexei would scream from pain, to the point where those taking care of him had to close their ears.

In addition to the slightest cuts that would bleed for days and weeks, Alexei suffered from a rare condition, that made blood accumulate in his joints.

As a result, every movement came with excruciating pain.

He couldn’t bend or unbend his limbs, which meant that a little boy wouldn’t enjoy a normal childhood.

His parents tried to control him as much as they could, but the spolied Alexei was out of control.

No matter how hard they tried, these bleeding episodes were inevitable.

The Imperial family did not want the whole world to know of the dreadful condition that Alexei was suffering from, so everybody's lips were sealed on the matter.

Only those people who absolutely needed to know, were told of the secret.

Even very close family members were kept in the dark.

Somehow, the little prince was a source of hope, and the focus of his family’s affections.

Not only did his sisters worship him, but Alexei was also the object of his parent’s pride and joy.

Even after his illness became known, the palace was continually transformed into a happy place, whenever he was well.

Alexei’s family could only keep his condition a secret for so long.

As he grew older, the world and especially the Russians were naturally bound to get interested in the boy, and everything about him.

They quickly noticed that something was wrong with his health, and began to speculate what was ailing the young Russian prince.

After a minor fall, Alexei suffered from such excessive bleeding, it led to internal hemorrhaging.

One look at the boy’s face would tell that his life was in great danger.

With a swollen leg, dark patches under his eyes, and extremely pale skin, the Romanovs knew that medicine was no more able to help them.

The doctors did everything they could, but the condition worsened. Finally, feeling scared and helpless, Alexei’s parents decided to seek help somewhere else.

When Alexandra turned to the church and realized that no miracle was forthcoming, she sought help from an eccentric peasant from Siberia named Grigory Rasputin.

Rasputin’s soothing voice and prayers seemed to work, as they stopped Alexei’s bleeding fits.

There were rumors his mother was having an affair with Rasputin, since the people didn’t know of the boy’s illness and didn’t understand why she was so tied to Rasputin.

Still, Alexandra didn’t give heed to the hearsay, and defended him despite knowing that his unpopularity was detrimental to the Romanov monarchy.

Alexei let Rasputin hypnotize and administer herbs to him, it seemed the only treatment that helped, whenever he wasn’t feeling well.

Surprised but grateful, the Tsar and Tsarina were forever in debt to Rasputin.

They trusted him with everything that would relate to Alexei, their little baby.

After all, he was the one who saved his life.

Unfortunately, they paid greatly for trusting this mysterious man.

The people were growing tired of the Tsar and his actions, and they would now feel that there was a mystic man who had extreme power over the whole royal family.

Yet, all of this meant nothing to Alexei because his life was a constant battle of pain and injuries, and his agony was far from being gone.

A simple carriage ride, would nearly end Alexei's life.

One day Alexei was in a carriage, riding through the woods, the jolt of the carriage caused a hematoma in the prince’s leg to burst. What followed would be the most agonizing 11 days of the Tsarevich's life.

As each day after that fatal carriage ride passed, so grew Alexei’s pain.

The Tsarevich’s condition deteriorated suddenly.

The hemorrhage traveled to his stomach, and aggravated his fever. The pain was so unbearable that the Russian Tsar often left the room, unable to withstand his son’s sufferings.

Not all the doctors and connections in all of Russia could save him. It was then that Alexandra sent for Rasputin.

Since he wasn’t able to pray for the prince in person, he sent, in his stead, words of hope.

He promised Alexandra Romanov that the young Tsarevich would get better, and also told her to not allow too many doctors around him.

Defying science, Rasputin's words did the magic that no doctors could do.

Within hours of receiving his letter, Alexei started showing improvement in his condition.

Sadly, on 17th July 1918 aged just 13, in the cellar room of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Alexei and his family were assassinated by the Bolsheviks.

Thankfully for many sufferer's of this illness, the treatment for hemophilia has advanced a great deal, and the disease has been understood way better than it was in Alexei’s days.

.

Source~en.culturess. com

.

https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders