Did the royal disease cause the downfall of the Russian Monarchy?

Answer 1

Yes, sadly it did. Or rather, it was a contributing cause.

The Royal Disease was Haemophilia, a disease carried by females but active in males. Queen Alexandra was of Queen Victoria's line. Her young son, Alexei, had Haemophilia. The slightest bump would cause agonising bleeding into his joints, and he was often very sick indeed.

She was a desperate mother, prepared to try anything that would help her child. She is said to have felt guilty for passing the illness on to him. She was told about a monk, Gregori Rasputin, who was said to work miracles. She contacted him and he came and he helped the boy in ways that seemed miraculous, and which we cannot explain even today. He would be with the boy for hours and when Rasputin left the bedchamber exhausted and wrung out, Alexei's fever had broken and the pain and swelling were gone. Queen Alexandra became more and more dependent on Rasputin, and people resented it because he was a drunkard who lived a highly immoral lifestyle. She could not or would not give him up because he was the only person to do little Alexei any good. What mother could spurn the only source of pain relief her child had?

The public were angry about Rasputin's influence. Tsar Nicolas lost popularity for allowing such a depraved man in the family circle. He had tried to persuade his wife to distance herself from Rasputin, but that only lasted until the child's next attack.

Alexei's haemophilia was not the only factor in the loss of sympathy for the Russian Royal Family. It would be silly to suggest it was. But it was certainly an important contributary factor.