The Least Accurate Movies About Historical Royals

What It Gets Wrong: This film emphasizes the titillating bits of Henry VIII's chaotic personal life while ignoring some of the most significant developments in English history, like the English Reformation. It also incorrectly depicts Henry as an uncouth glutton. By contrast, Henry VIII's court was celebrated for what an ambassador from Venice described as "elegant manners."

Its depiction of Anne of Cleves, Henry's fourth wife, is especially misguided. The film portrays her as actively trying to get out of the marriage, a representation that basically absolves the real Henry of his role in divorcing Anne. In actuality, he rejected her in part because he didn't find her attractive.

Where It's Surprisingly Accurate: By centering on the king's private life, the film acknowledges that Tudor power was often negotiated through personal interactions. In other words, the personal was political.

What It Gets Wrong: The star-studded film is based on a novel by Philippa Gregory. Both the novel and the adaptation wrongly take politically motivated allegations and rumors from the Tudor court as historical fact.

Riffing off a probably false allegation that Anne had relations with her brother George, for example, the film depicts her trying to convince him to impregnate her. 

Where It's Surprisingly Accurate: Mary Boleyn really was one of Henry VIII's mistresses before he took her younger and more famous sister Anne as his second wife.

What It Gets Wrong: This period film - which features a royal cameo - is a sympathetic look at Queen Victoria as a young woman and her budding romance with Prince Albert. But one of the most dramatic scenes in the movie never happened in real life.

In the film, Albert proves his devotion to Victoria by selflessly throwing himself in front of a bullet meant for her. While there were several attempts on Queen Victoria's life throughout her reign, Albert never acted as a human shield for her.

Where It's Surprisingly Accurate: As shown in the film, the so-called "Kensington System" - rules and regulations about what Victoria could do - limited the young princess's freedoms in Kensington Palace, her childhood home. The film also depicts the tensions that defined the first years of her reign, including the political fallout surrounding her close relationship with Prime Minister Lord Melbourne and his Whig party.

As in the movie, Queen Victoria really was deeply in love with Prince Albert, even if they had marital problems just like any other couple.

What It Gets Wrong: At the film's climax, Queen Mary of Scotland secretly meets her cousin and political rival Queen Elizabeth of England. Though it's a richly conceived scene, there's one problem: It never happened. Mary and Elizabeth exchanged letters, but they never actually met. 

The film has also received criticism for giving Mary a Scottish accent. She grew up in France and probably had a French accent. 

Where It's Surprisingly Accurate: Though the Catholic Queen Mary largely accepted Scotland's Protestantism in the wake of the Scottish Reformation, firebrand theologian John Knox nonetheless butted heads with her. Lord Darnley was a terrible husband and had a hand in the slaying of David Rizzio, Mary's secretary and friend.

Director Josie Rourke's decision to cast ethnically diverse actors in the film also highlights the indisputable fact that Stuart Scotland and Tudor England weren't exclusively white.

What It Gets Wrong: Despite the film's claim, Princess Grace of Monaco never single-handedly saved Monaco - a tax-free haven for the moneyed elite - by preventing it from paying taxes to France. Director Olivier Dahan did not dispute the film's numerous inaccuracies and instead declared, "I am not a journalist or historian. I am an artist."

Where It's Surprisingly Accurate: Though the details of the film are suspect, the overall truth of Grace's celebrity and her feelings of disconnection in Monaco are probably true. One detail it seems to have gotten right: Grace didn't prioritize learning French, the language of her people.

What It Gets Wrong: For a stylized biopic about one of history's strongest-willed monarchs, Elizabeth curiously presents its titular queen as weak and insecure. The physical romance as depicted in the film between Elizabeth I and her favorite courtier Robert Dudley is historically uncertain.

Though their love affair has been rumored for centuries, there is no historical evidence that they ever consummated their relationship.

Where It's Surprisingly Accurate: The film hits on a number of issues that defined Elizabeth's reign, from the politics of marriage to religious strife and the fine line she walked as a female ruler in a patriarchal world.