Elizabeth

Corrected entry: When the priest is administering last rites to Mary, she is supposedly already dead. But just before he leans in to check her breathing, you can see her chest (and hands) rise and fall.

Correction: In Catholicism the "last rites" are administered before death occurs and when the death is imminent.

Dee Dressler

Correction: This movie is considered "historical fiction," and many events depicted in it are deliberately inaccurate using artistic license. For example, Robert Dudley (the Earl of Leicester) was loyal to Elizabeth until his death and was never involved in a plot to dethrone her; he also did not convert to Catholicism as shown in the movie. And there is no evidence whatsoever that the "Virgin Queen" slept with Dudley. Nor did Elizabeth ever meet Henri, the Duke of Anjou, (it was actually his brother who proposed to her) and there is nothing to support that Henri was homosexual. Also, Walsingham was actually much younger than the older man he is depicted as in the film (he was in his mid-twenties when Elizabeth was crowned), and so on. Cherry-picking one incident from among the many fabricated or altered events should not be considered as a "factual error."

raywest

Corrected entry: Laetitia Knollys did not die by wearing Queen's poisoned dress as shown in the film but rather lived til her 90s and in 1578 married Robert Dudley himself.

Correction: The dead woman was her governess Kat Ashley. She even calls out her name in the hallways up to her dead body.

It most certainly was Lettice Knollys in the dress in the film, as you can see it is Kelly McDonald lying on the floor. Dudley had flirted with her earlier, just outside the Queen's bedchamber, calling her 'beautiful'. Kat Ashley (Emily Mortimer) is later on cutting Elizabeth's hair while sobbing during the Queen's 'rebirth' at the end of the film.

Chimera

Corrected entry: The movie implies that Mary of Guise was murdered by Walsingham in bed. In reality, she died of dropsy (the collection of fluid in the body cavities and/or tissues).

Krista

Correction: The movie implies it was murder, as Mary of Guise died suddenly and nobody really knows of what cause. It was Mary (so as not to confuse which one, daughter of Henry VIII by Catherine of Aragon) who had dropsy. This caused her to become bloated and led her to believe continually that she was pregnant.

Corrected entry: All the way up until the scene where Elizabeth makes love with Dudley, she has long, straight hair. The very next morning, her hair has something like bangs in the front, which are shorter and curlier in the front.

Correction: That is because the time frame isn't just one day, but a matter of days or weeks.

Corrected entry: At the very end of the movie, when Elizabeth is walking to her throne as the Virgin Queen, the music being played is a Requiem written by Mozart. Not exactly a period song.

Correction: It is not played within the film, so there is no reason it has to be contemporary with the film's setting (otherwise no historical films would have soundtracks composed by modern composers).

Corrected entry: Further to the use of the non-contemporary passage from Mozart's Requiem, the use of 'Nimrod' from the 'Enigma Variations' by Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) is hardly of the time either- a shame especially as there is so much good music of that period still extant...

Correction: It's not played within the film, so there's no reason it has to be contemporary with the film's setting (otherwise no historical films would have soundtracks composed by modern composers). It presumably just seemed like a good piece of music to play.

Corrected entry: Lord Robert Dudley was created Earl of Leicester in 1564 and remained in favour with Elizabeth for the rest of his life, although she did refuse to marry him.

Correction: The movie is not a documentary, artistic license was used.

Twotall

Corrected entry: Sir William Cecil was only 38 at Elizabeth's accession, hardly the old man portrayed. Actually created Lord Burghley in 1571 (the film must end in the mid-1560s, as at the end it states that Elizabeth reigned for another forty years; she died in 1603), he was never retired by Elizabeth, but remained her chief minister for the rest of his life. He died in 1598.

Correction: Artistic license, the filmmakers are free to change facts around a bit.

Twotall

Corrected entry: Although King Phillip II did send an ambassador to congratulate Elizabeth while Mary was dying, he did not propose marriage until a year later.

Onesimos

Correction: Artistic license is used here. The filmmakers are allowed to change facts around a bit to make a more interesting story (to have the ambassador propose marriage straight off creates a bit more tension in the story, as well as demonstrates the pressure Elizabeth was under to marry).

Twotall

Corrected entry: There is no solid evidence that Elizabeth had sexual relationships with Dudley, or any other man. She was very politically astute, and knew the dangers of damaging her Virgin Queen reputation, upon which much of her strength was based.

Krista

Correction: On the DVD commentary, the director happily admits that there is no evidence of a sexual relationship, but that he was exploring the possibility.

Corrected entry: Elizabeth's lady in waiting Cat Ashley was actually much older than her and took care of her when she was a child, not the young woman portrayed in the film.

Correction: The movie is not a documentary, which leaves room for artistic license to be used by the filmmakers.

Twotall

Corrected entry: Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, was only 22 when Elizabeth came to the throne. Far from being the sinister plotter portrayed in the film, he actually seems to have been somewhat weak and easily dominated. He was not executed until 1571, after his involvement in the Ridolfi Plot.

Correction: The movie is not a documentary, which leaves room for artistic license to be used by the filmmakers. They needed a person to be viewed as the focal point "villain" in the story, and so Norfolk was chosen.

Twotall

Corrected entry: Another one of the blindingly obvious historical inaccuracies of this film - Elizabeth was perfectly well aware that Dudley was married. She only distanced herself when his wife died in possibly suspect circumstances and rumours that she died so Dudley could marry Elizabeth emerged.

Correction: The movie is not a documentary. Artistic license was used by the filmmakers.

Twotall

Factual error: Elizabeth was arrested and sent to the Tower in 1554, but was then placed under house arrest at Woodstock (not Hatfield) for four years.

More mistakes in Elizabeth

Elizabeth: Just tell me why.
Lord Robert: Why? Madam, is it not plain enough to you? 'Tis no easy thing to be loved by the queen. It would corrupt the soul of any man.

More quotes from Elizabeth

Trivia: The film rolls two conspiracies against Elizabeth into one. The first was the Ridolfi plot of 1571, in which the Duke of Norfolk was executed and Arundel arrested. The second culminated in 1586 when a priest named John Ballard was sent by the Pope to coordinate an English Catholic rebellion that would clear the way for an Italian invasion. As far as we know, Sussex and Dudley were not involved in any treachery as alleged in the film. Importantly, the film makes scarce mention of Elizabeth's cousin Mary, Queen of Scots (as a Catholic it was she who the rebels wished on the English throne and she played a central role in all the conspiracies).

Onesimos

More trivia for Elizabeth

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.