【英语时差8,16】皇室疾病-上（在线收听）

 It’s good to be king, as the saying goes. But sometimes having a royal lineage isn’t so great. Take the male descendants of Queen Victoria, who was the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom during most of the 19th century. Victoria’s son, Leopold, died is his thirties when he slipped, fell, and bled to death. Her grandson, Friedrich, met his end at age two, also bleeding to death. Grandsons Leopold and Maurice made it to ages 32 and 23, respectively, before they too, bled out. Now, given all the bleeding, you might assume that Victoria’s male line suffered from hemophilia. And you’d be right. But it wasn’t until 2009 that scientists confirmed that what had been known as “Royal disease” was, in fact hemophilia–a genetic mutation that disables the ability of blood to clot. Absent clotting, even a trivial cut or scratch can turn deadly if too much blood is lost.