Yes, Queen Elizabeth I was a natural redhead, inheriting her reddish-gold hair from her father, Henry VIII, but she famously wore elaborate red wigs for most of her reign to enhance her image as the "Virgin Queen," linking her fiery hair to power, legitimacy, and a distinct English identity. While early depictions showed her natural color, her iconic look was a carefully constructed symbol, with courtiers even dyeing their hair to match.
Queen Elizabeth I was likely a natural redhead and probably had wavy or curly hair. However, most of her life she wore wigs. She chose to keep to the bright shade rather than opt for another colour. Her signature locks were so popular that some courtiers dyed their beards auburn as a trend.
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?)
Whilst hair loss isn't a widely acknowledged as a smallpox symptom, it could be that the trauma to Elizabeth's body resulted in her experiencing telogen effluvium, where hair falls out due to sudden unexpected stresses on the body.
It took her ladies a staggering four hours a day to complete the ceremony of dressing and undressing the queen, and the ritual of dressing the queen became increasingly elaborate as she aged. As she grew older her wigs were used to conceal her greying hair.
Later in the year, following Elizabeth's illness with smallpox, the succession question became a heated issue in Parliament. Members urged the Queen to marry or nominate an heir, to prevent a civil war upon her death.
In 15th-century England 🇬🇧 prostitutes invented pubic wigs, known as merkins. They used them to hide shaving after treating diseases like syphilis or to look “pure,” since shaving was seen as indecent. Later, Victorian burlesque dancers wore them on stage to look naked without breaking the law.
The following day, the diagnosis that Elizabeth and her court had dreaded from the outset was announced: she was suffering from smallpox, one of the deadliest and most feared diseases of the age. Those who survived it were often left hideously disfigured. Behind the scenes, Elizabeth's health had declined rapidly.
Without consulting Diana, the queen arranged for a hairstylist to come and cut her hair. This overbearing move stripped Diana of her autonomy and dignity. From that point on, Diana never attempted to grow her hair long again. When Charles's affair came to light, she cut her hair even shorter.
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. Eventually, Elizabeth lost so many teeth that people found it difficult to understand her when she spoke.
From her sleek bobs and bouffant wigs in the 1960s to her signature curly Afro in the 1970s, Diana has consistently pushed the boundaries of style.
In her final months, Queen Elizabeth II made a deeply personal decision to stop medical treatment and face her illness with quiet acceptance. Privately, she had been battling myeloma, a form of bone cancer that affects the bone marrow.
Getting the Elizabethan look
High, narrow arched brows and a high hairline required much plucking, and eyes were brightened with drops of belladonna juice and lined with kohl (powdered antimony).
The origin of red hair can be traced to Central Asia, caused by a mutation in the MC1R gene.
“Her face is oblong, fair but wrinkled; her eyes small, yet black and pleasant; her nose a little hooked; her teeth black (a fault the English seem to suffer from because of their great use of sugar); she wore false hair, and that red.”
The Bible mentions red hair primarily through figures like Esau, described as "red, covered with hair like a fur coat," and potentially King David, who is called "ruddy" (Hebrew: admoni). While these references highlight distinctiveness, the Bible doesn't assign inherent spiritual meaning (good or bad) to red hair, focusing instead on character; some Jewish tradition associates redheads with fiery tempers (like Esau), while others see David's ruddy complexion as a sign of health or a handsome appearance, contrasting him with Esau's impulsiveness.
She loved wearing brands, which included Chanel. However, the then Princess of Wales stopped wearing Chanel following her divorce. Apparently, the label's logo, the double interlocking C's, reminded her of the betrayal she had by Prince Charles because of his then-affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.
Nature's Rarest Palette: Red Hair Standing at the apex of rarity, natural red hair occurs in just 1-2% of the global population.
Princess Margaret didn't bow to Princess Diana's coffin at her funeral primarily due to a deep-seated resentment stemming from Diana's 1995 tell-all Panorama interview, which Margaret saw as a severe betrayal of the Royal Family and the Queen; Margaret never forgave Diana for publicly airing grievances and challenging royal decorum, viewing her as a disloyal figure, leading to her snub during the funeral procession despite their initially warm relationship.
Elizabeth I died in Richmond Palace. At the time of her death she was reported to have a full inch of makeup on her face. Her rumoured last words were: “All my possessions for one moment of time.”
2 In 1562, the Queen contracted smallpox which left severe and permanent scars on her face and she feared it may ruin her image of possessing seamlessly fair skin. 2 In order to conceal the damage caused by her illness, she used a heavy white face paint known as Venetian Ceruse.
By the 19th century, pubic hair trends started to shift. Naughty photos from the Civil War era show trimmed but not fully shaved bushes — kind of a “neat but not too neat” vibe. Then, in 1915, Gillette dropped the first women's razor ad, calling body hair “unsightly” and “objectionable.” And capitalism struck again.
The four-finger rule for wigs is a guideline for placing a wig's hairline naturally: position the front edge of the wig about four finger-widths above your eyebrows. This helps prevent the wig from sitting too far forward (making your forehead look tiny) or too far back, creating a more realistic, seamless look by mimicking where a natural hairline would typically fall.
Not all hair removal is sex-driven. Plenty of people prune their pubes for sensory purposes. The practice can also be part of the performance of class, cleanliness, femininity, youth, beach etiquette, yada yada yada.