Purple Secret: Genes, 'Madness' and the Royal Houses of Europe

by John C.G. Röhl, David Hunt, Martin Warren

Book about royal families of Europe.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Royalty, Medicine, Biography, Science, Health

411 pages, Paperback

First published January 3, 1998

About the author

John Charles Gerald Röhl was a British historian notable for his work on Imperial Germany and European history.

Originally from London, England, Röhl taught in Germany at the University of Hamburg and at the University of Freiburg. In 1964 he became a professor of European history at the University of Sussex, where he was given emeritus status in 1999.

Reviews

[Zosi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This is an unpleasant book at times, not because it’s poorly written but because it talks about a lot of very sick people who suffered a lot throughout their lives. It’s very good actually; the history is balanced with the science and every hypothesis and claim is backed up with very solid evidence. It seems that the existence of porphyria in the royal family is nearly a certain thing, thanks to the exhaustive research of this book. I learned a lot about various figures I knew about and some I didn’t. A Fascinating read, also because the ‘royal malady’ is typically meant to mean hemophilia and it’s interesting to see that there’s another disease with even more provenance. It didn’t get too bogged down by the science and was pretty comprehensible for non scientists. Extremely well researched.

[Duzzlebrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors of this book take a step-by-step interdisciplinary approach to the question of whether or not George III and his descendants had porphyria. It's impressive, more scholarly than I expected, and convincing. I was impressed that they followed the trail to Continental Europe, and through several centuries - much longer and further than I thought.

They first review the original claim from the 1960s, and weigh its influence. Then they take the reader on a tour of the relatives of George III, to see if they can turn up anyone in the family with the same symptoms. They not only demonstrate from letters and diaries, that the same symptoms appeared repeatedly, but also find indications that the sufferers themselves recognised similarities between their illnesses. They link this chain of evidence to other clinically-diagnosed cases of porphyria. Finally, they manage to find DNA from descendants of George and Victoria and analyse it for mutations that could have caused porphyria. This last is the weakest part of their case - they find a mutation in only one sample, in a position which isn't 100% certain to have caused porphyria.

[LillyBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was mentioned in another book I read recently, so of course my interest in forensic medicine was piqued. However, I'm torn on the rating for this book. It deserves five stars because it accomplishes what it sets out to do in a clear, orderly fashion: prove the theory that porphyria is not only what caused the madness of King George III but that it also continues to runs through the genes of the current royal houses of Europe. But on a pure enjoyment level I can only give it three stars; it takes a true hard core scientist to read a scientific treatise. I understand and agree the authors had to enumerate every single mention of every single symptom in every single letter of every single 19th century royal to prove their point, but I didn't necessarily want to read them all. This is a highly successful book that suffers from its own success.

[Rachel Boothe · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his book, Young Wilhelm, John Rohl devoted a chapter to Princess Charlotte's porphyria. Empress Vicky, Princess Charlotte's mother, suffered from many of the same symptoms. After reading that book, I wanted to read "Purple Secret: Genes, 'Madness', and the Royal Houses of Europe'. This book is part detective work, part history, and part medical treatise. I would venture to say that most people with just a minor knowledge of the British Royal family know about the "madness" of King George III. Up until discoveries were made about the debilitating disease known as porphyria, the belief about King George III was that he was basically insane. However, the research done by Ida Macalpine, Richard Hunter, and Claude Rimington, as well as by the authors of this book, all but prove that George III suffered from porphyria. I think at some point I had read about the suspicion that he had porphyria, but what I did not know was the number of deceased members of the British Royal family who have suffered from what appears to be porphyria. The historical research in order to arrive at the diagnoses and possible diagnoses of porphyria in deceased Royal family members was absolutely fascinating. The last chapter of the book is what I would call a medical treatise on porphyria. The authors describe what it is and how it is passed down through generations by DNA. Since I am not a biologist nor medical expert, I did find some of it hard to follow, but I feel that they did attempt to write it in layman's terms. I would give this book 5 stars except for the fact that the authors felt the need to bring evolutionary theory into the this last chapter. As a Christian and a creationist, I do not believe in evolution. Also, it was just unnecessary for the discussion of the genetics of porphyria. I do feel that this book is one that readers will either love or hate. Much of this book consists of describing the porphyria symptoms of past Royal family members. However, I found it to be done in an interesting way. In addition to finding the book very enjoyable and fascinating, I also felt so much sympathy for those in the book who suffered these horrible symptoms of porphyria. It truly is an awful illness and the descriptions of what these people endured breaks one's heart. This book left me wondering if any current members of the British Royal family have porphyria. I suspect that if any of them do have it, the treatments that exist for it today have been successful in keeping it under control.

[Belle Meri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the two books I've read regarding the possibilities of a genetic disorder affecting all of Queen Victoria's descendants into the present day, this is the stronger of the pair. For an older book, it's remarkably well-researched and detailed though its biggest drawback is its age. It really needs an updated edition with an addendum explaining if they did or did not find porphyria in Empress Alexandra of Russia. Still despite its age and its few drawbacks - the heavy reliance on scientific terms and studies makes it hard for a lay reader to follow sometimes - it is a very good book on this topic.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting book, whose intent seemed to be to prove the theory of porphyria in the royal families of Europe. Ok, you had me at George lll, no need to expound much further. I think a more interesting book would have explored how this genetic defect changed the course of history, which it most certainly did. Still, worth a read for anyone interested in royalty of the last few hundred years.

[Peter Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good if specialised topic.The mystery of George III’s “ madness” is tenaciously researched and thoroughly explained so that I’m quite convinced that he had porphyria but I was surprised to see how it affected other famous royalty - Frederick William of Prussia,George IV and William VI,Possibly Queen Victoria ,perhaps the Kaiser- and very unpleasant it was too.The science was a bit beyond me but it was explained well.

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting to read, but I still wonder if just being sickly indicates it must be porphyria.

[Ken Sampson · Rating 4 out of 5]

[8 Apr 2000] An interesting and informative read.

[Terence · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me bad dreams for a couple of nights. But it is fantastic! At some level, the central theme of the book offered me a viable definition of Hell: you are granted one wish, and you must then live with the consequences. So, your wish is to become the King of England; and the consequences are that you inherit the genetic malady of variegated porphyria. As a result, you must suffer the intermittently horrendous agonies of George III. This book is part detective story, part scientific treatise, part detailed medical diary. I found it engrossing. What is most fascinating, after you close the final page, is to wonder whether the genetic malady lingers on in the current generation, and which members of the royal entourage are the carriers. Porphyria appears to be largely manageable these days, but with sometimes unexpected restrictions placed on the patient to ensure that an outbreak is avoided. One of these is to avoid too much direct sunshine. In the old days, this meant that a rest cure to somewhere like the South of France was precisely what antagonized the disease and made a nastier outbreak more likely.

[Petra · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing looke at a possible heriditary disease within the Royal Family. The researchers follow written records, some modern medical records and DNA analysis to prove their point, some of which is near impossible due to the "ancientness" of the records, lack of medical knowledge, etc. However, very compelling and interesting. If true, History could have been influenced greatly by an hereditary disease within a family with extreme power over events. The book starts it's research with "mad" King George III and from there moves into most of the Royal Families of Europe. Very interesting read.

[Leorah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read. I went to bed every evening with both my books in hand and told myself that I would a bit of Rohl's book before moving on to the Conroy. I couldn't have been more wrong: once I started reading the Purple Secret, I couldn't put it down. In, parts the microbiology and genetics explanations were a bit difficult to understand, but the main idea they supported was not. I'm off to read Rohl's other book, The Kaiser and His Court.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting, very well written volume but, although if you are going to read anything about Porphyria and the British/German royal families this is probably the book to read, there has been a great deal more recent research which casts grave doubt on the Porphyria theory were George III is concerned and if that plank goes there goes the theory as presented here and in numerous other books.

Read but keep an open mind.