Queen Elizabeth had teeth that were blackened by decay. She had even lost many teeth due to her sugary diet. She had lost so many teeth that foreign ambassadors claimed she was hard to understand. The problem was that Elizabeth had a great fear of dentists, or barber-surgeons as they were called back then.
Queen Elizabeth, however, being 94 years old, still has all of her teeth and boasts a brilliant Queen's Royal smile. Her secret has been accredited to professional dental whitening, veneers, and the fact that she wore braces at a young age.
Elizabethans often washed their faces with their own spit due to the fear that most water was highly unsanitary. One pamphlet from the times recommended that people keep their teeth white by rubbing their teeth with powdered fish bones and then rinsing their mouths out with a mixture of vinegar an sulphuric acid.
Prior to sugar, Queen Elizabeth's dental care consisted of brushing her teeth with honey. However, when sugar became available, she replaced honey with sugar. In fact, the sugar paste became known as Tudor Toothpaste.
Sometimes, the Queen of Britain, Her Royal Majesty Elizabeth II, needs to change clothes up to five times a day – in the case of big celebrations, for example. And not simply the dress she's wearing but the shoes, gloves, jewelry, medals and other accessories and, most important, her hats.
Elizabeth had many lovers - MYTH
We may never know if Elizabeth had non-platonic relationships with any of them, though no evidence has ever conclusively proved that she took lovers or companions before or after taking the crown.
There are a number of reasons why her teeth were so discoloured. The Queen Mother was, by many accounts, a party girl! Wining, dining, and cake played a large part, as did gin and cigarettes in her lifestyle. Two of the worst things you can indulge in, as far as your teeth are concerned.
Dye in Elizabethan Times
Blonde dye was the most popular for both men and women, who would bleach their hair by applying chamomile and lemon juice then letting it sit in sunlight. While this bleaching is not as effective as today's chemical agents, it can still be utilized to lighten hair color.
Anne Boleyn was rather tall of stature, with black hair and an oval face of sallow complexion, as if troubled with jaundice. She had a projecting tooth under the upper lip, and on her right hand, six fingers.
"She reportedly went to see the world-renowned French dentist Dr. Didier Fillion, who created the 'imperfectly perfect smile'," says Dr. Rhona.
Our reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, was crowned in 1952, and three years later Kent Brushes becomes the proud recipient of the Royal Warrant as Brushmakers to Her Majesty.
While most of us know Freddie Mercury as the iconic front-man of Queen who had an incredible voice, you may not he struggled with misaligned teeth. Mercury had a famously unusual overbite and distinct front teeth as a result of a malocclusion, or a bite alignment issue.
Katherine, six years Henry's senior, was considered beautiful, and shared a love of display and finery with her husband. She and Henry rode and hunted together, and he trusted her completely. For many years they were a happy and devoted couple and a powerful political team.
It is a myth that the Tudors were dirty and rarely washed. However, it was difficult for ordinary people to have a bath because it was hard to heat a large amount of water at one time. In the summer, people sometimes had a bath in the local river.
A common misconception about Anne Boleyn is that she had six fingers on one hand, but that is all it is – a misconception. In the 16th century, an abnormality such as an extra finger would have been thought to be a sign of witchcraft and Henry would have never have married someone with a defect like this.
It is known however that she contracted smallpox in 1562 which left her face scarred. She took to wearing white lead makeup to cover the scars. In later life, she suffered the loss of her hair and her teeth, and in the last few years of her life, she refused to have a mirror in any of her rooms.
Elizabethan beauty
The Renaissance ideal of beauty was fair hair, a pallid complexion, bright eyes and red lips. Elizabeth was tall and striking, with pale skin and light red-gold hair. She exaggerated these features, particularly as she aged, and other women sought to emulate them.
Elizabeth's red hair was no accident. For most of her life, Elizabeth wore wigs, so she might have chosen hair of any colour she liked, but she chose red; she was so committed to the shade that she is even supposed to have dyed the tails of her horses to match. (Who says redheads don't have a sense of humour?)
Making herself instantly recognisable was also reportedly a factor in the Queen's choice to stick with the same hairstyle. In fact, according to some insiders, the monarch is believed to have insisted on her hair being entirely symmetrical, so that whatever side you saw her from, that iconic profile remained the same.
The reason her teeth were bad – Sugar! Early on in the Tudor England sugar wasn't as readily available, but during the reign of Elizabeth the importation of sugar from places like the West and East Indies, Morocco and Barbary led the way to the blackening of England nobility's formerly “pearly whites”.
Kindness, smile and her early days as a monarch in a male dominated world praised by queen consort. Queen Consort Camilla has spoken movingly of Queen Elizabeth II's “wonderful blue eyes” and her ability to carve a role in a “male-dominated world” when she came to the throne.
Wealthy Brits did not hesitate to indulge their sweet tooth, and it was no different for the monarch, Queen Elizabeth I. The queen was especially fond of sweets, but not so fond of the dentist. Her teeth rotted; they turned black and gave off a foul odor.
According to a new book, the Queen Elizabeth II covertly battled a particularly terrible kind of cancer in the final years of her life. A future biography of Her Majesty authored by a close friend of Prince Philip stated that the Queen had bone marrow cancer, with bone pain being the most prevalent symptom.
Dudley was almost certainly innocent of anything beyond neglecting her. He was now technically free to marry Elizabeth, but the cloud of suspicion that now hung over him meant that she could never accept him. To do so might have cost her the throne.
Appearance: Frustratingly we do not even know what Mary Boleyn looked like. She was believed to have been the prettier of the two Boleyn sisters, probably taking after her mother whom was known to have been a beauty. Unfortunately, there are no surviving authenticated portraits of Mary.