11. FACT: Elizabeth was a sickly child and was unwell for the remainder of her life, even though she tried to cover up her weaknesses
From an early age, Elizabeth realized that, in order to survive in a man’s world, she needed to present herself as tough and unshakable. And, for the most part, she succeeded. However, the impression she gave was a mask covering the reality. According to some recent biographers of the Tudor queen, Elizabeth suffered from bad health from childhood, most notably with a bad case of smallpox. And as she got older, her health only got worse. In the end, the queen of England was a frail old lady using every possible trick to cover up the truth.
Ironically, it was her attempts to hide her frailty that most likely caused the Queen’s health to decline so rapidly in her later years. Each morning, she would apply bright red blusher to her face and neck to hide her wrinkles and her smallpox scars. This was made from mercuric sulfide. So, every time Elizabeth licked her lips, she would have been slowly poisoning herself. As we now know, mercury poisoning affects the brain, causing slurred speech, memory loss and a lack of coordination. And, of course, the worse she looked, the more toxic make-up her ladies-in-waiting slapped on her every day!