Jean Simmons almost didn't get the part of Elizabeth because she was considered too pretty.
Cast as on-screen lovers Young Bess (Queen Elizabeth I) and Sir Thomas Seymour, in real life Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger were married to each other when this movie was filmed.
This was young Rex Thompson's film debut as Prince Edward/King Edward VI. He turned in a truly engaging performance as the ill-fated young King of England, remarkable considering he was only eleven years old, and was not British but a native New Yorker.