These Heavily Inbred Royals Are Tough To Look At

For most people, carrying a recessive gene isn't necessarily a death sentence. It's only when that person links up with another carrier of the same bit of genetic code that their children might be in danger. They run the risk of getting both recessive copies and suffering from a recessive disorder. With a relatively large and diverse gene pool, those incidents are pretty rare. But, if someone is restricted to picking a partner only from their family, that chance can start to rise dramatically as successive generations collect identical or near-identical bits of genetic code, a state known as homozygosity.

A quick flip through any European history book might land you on several royal portraits of the Habsburgs. This well-known royal family name can be traced back to Switzerland when Otto II ruled around 1100 A.D. Through strategic marriage alliances, this empire grew to include Austria and eventually the Spanish Empire. But you might notice some peculiar facial features...

To call Cleopatra impressive would be a serious understatement. Per Smithsonian Magazine, she is remembered for her influence and power as a female pharaoh and seductress. Naturally, future generations would obsess over her looks and love life because society's priorities are nothing if not backward. But Cleopatra was more than just a pretty face.

Historically, the rules of royal marriages have been completely bizarre to normal people. Marrying for love, or even with a tiny bit of choice, was almost always out of the question. Royal marriages were arranged as part of treaties or to consolidate power. This meant it wasn't unusual for very young children to get coupled up.

In the vast majority of world cultures, inbreeding — the birthing of children between two close family members — is a fundamental taboo. Indeed, the practice is discouraged in many major religions, with the rules of the Hebrew Bible prohibiting sexual contact between certain family members, such as siblings, in both Leviticus and Deuteronomy. But the truth is that incest and inbreeding have historically occurred throughout the world, and practiced in a manner that would be highly problematic for most societies today.