The royal line carried haemophilia, so the real son’s blood wouldn’t clot. Any true heir would refuse to be cut, and the impostor didn’t know to.
After the king dies, two men turn up, each claiming to be his long-lost son. The old royal adviser proposes a simple test. The man who agrees to take it is sent away, and the man who refuses is crowned. Why?
Give me a hintThe hint
The royal family has an illness that runs in it.
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The test meant giving blood, and the true heir couldn’t
Source: Agnes Rogers, How Come?, 1953