Elizabeth (1998) - 24 mistakes

Revealing: At the scene where Mary of Guise is found dead by her nephew, he lays down on her and puts his head on her chest. As he comes down, her eyes slap shut! If she were dead, they would remain open.

Factual error: 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.

Factual error: 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.

Factual error: 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.

Continuity: When the guards come to take Elizabeth away in the beginning, before she is queen, Lord Dudley has his back to the camera and is saying goodbye to her. You can distinctly see the clasp of a necklace on the back of his neck, but in the next few shots, there's nothing there.

Factual error: Sir Francis Walsingham was only a year older than Elizabeth.

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.

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

Factual error: 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.

Factual error: The Pope did not excommunicate Elizabeth, thus making her fair game for Catholic assassins, until 1570.

Factual error: Elizabeth did not start wearing wigs and heavy makeup until later in her reign, and although it was a combination of vanity and political shrewdness, it had nothing to do with the Virgin Mary. Elizabeth very much wanted to keep the image of an eternally youthful Queen, both for her own vanity, and to belie the fact that she was aging, and possibly weak or ill. Also, all this is intended to covere up the elderly monarch's smallpox scars. "As Elizabeth grew older and grayer, she took to wearing red wigs." "Elizabeth was 25 years old at her accession. From her father she had her red, naturally curly hair." - Alison Weir, the author of 'The Life of Elizabeth I' wrote. "Gloriana [a title referring to the Queen in her latter years] was almost 60 and had resorted to an auburn wig to hide her thinning hair." - Antonia Fraser, the author of 'The Lives of the Kings & Queens of England.'

Factual error: Mary of Guise did die mysteriously in 1560, but far from being near victory she was actually on the verge of defeat by an allied army of Scottish rebels and English troops.

Factual error: Elizabeth was nearly twenty years older than the flamboyant, bisexual transvestite Duke of Anjou, and they never met in person. He went on to become King Henry III of France, and his younger brother became Duke of Anjou. It was this Duke that Elizabeth met, and they actually got along very well and even talked about getting married. However, due to unpopular public sentiment towards the match and Elizabeth's own aversion to marriage in general, the plans were called off.

Factual error: Queen Mother Mary of Guise did garrison Scotland with troops, but Elizabeth sent a fleet, not an army. And this fleet was not an invasion force, but was sent to back up the Protestant landlords in their battle against the Catholic Mary.

Factual error: In the scene where Elizabeth is being taken to see her sister, Mary, she is in a horse-drawn carriage. Horse-drawn carriages, however, were not introduced to England until late in Elizabeth's reign, and at this point in the movie she is not yet queen.

Continuity: In the director's narration on the DVD he points out a great mistake they made while editing the film. There is a scene where Elizabeth is dressing. In one place where they spliced two shots together, she starts out sitting down only partially dressed. In the very next frame she has stood up and is quite a bit more dressed. After watching the commentary, the mistake is completely obvious.

Factual error: 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.

Continuity: When Mary of Guise and Walsingham are talking at the table, Mary picks up a small knife. In some shots the handle is in her right hand, and in other shots it's in her left hand.

Audio problem: Upon Elizabeth's first meeting with the Duke of Anjou, he whispers, in French, what he would like to do to her in bed. Then he says, in English, "Would you like that?" His lips don't move when he says it.

Factual error: Walsingham did not trap and arrest Norfolk. Norfolk was executed in June 1572. Walsingham was then in Paris as English ambassador and returned to England in May 1573. (see "Her Majesty's Spymaster" by Stephen Budiansky).