10 Oscar Winning Films With Huge Historical Inaccuracies

4. Elizabeth - The Golden Age (2007) - The 56-Year-Old Queen In Her Thirties...

elizabeth the golden age
Universal Pictures

The Spanish Armada, an assassination attempt on the Queen of England and romantic disappointments for the monarch - these are just some of the crises facing Elizabeth I in the last throes of her reign on the throne during this film. The 2008 Academy Award winner for Best Costume Design, however, is laced with fallacies.

Most intriguingly, the choice of Cate Blanchett as the 56-year-old Queen Elizabeth - the actress was just 36 at the time - does not represent the aging monarch accurately. Ivan the Terrible, who is one of the many suitors chasing Elizabeth I's hand in marriage, was also long dead and so could not have courted the Queen.

Another negative is the fact that Elizabeth I rides to Tilbury straddling her horse in full armour and regalia - when it is widely known that the Queen liked to travel side saddle. It is easy to forgive the riding inaccuracy, but a love interest who wasn't even alive anymore is surely inexcusable...

Contributor
Contributor

NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.