He also noted that the action seems to extend over a longer period than the reality (in fact the Prince of Wales's visit happened the preceding year) and that mental illness caused by syphilis may have been a contributing factor in the deaths.

[3][a] Margaret Hinxman in The Sunday Telegraph, citing Joan Haslip's biography of the Empress, pointed out how often in the film she is present at significant events "when in fact she was more conspicuous by her absence".

[4] In a promotional interview, Terence Young described seeing the 1930s Charles Boyer-Danielle Darrieux film while reading history at Cambridge and being aware of the historical context: "The original story glossed over a good deal.

[5][2] The scene where the Emperor and Prince Edward visit the Vienna State Opera for a ballet performance was filmed on a specially constructed set at the Boulogne Studios, Paris;[5] the film-makers also shot briefly in Venice.

[5] Derek Malcolm in The Guardian ascribed the film's failure to the central couple: "Omar Sharif as Rudolf goes about things like an exceptionally poor man's Larry Olivier... Catherine Deneuve is asked merely to look winsomely beautiful...

[9] Patrick Gibbs wrote a lengthy review article for The Daily Telegraph, comparing the film's version of events with the historical record and concluding that the latter was more interesting: "The story as history tells it is so dramatic in its characters and incidents that it seems an extraordinary aberration to dilute it with the clichés of a costume romance".

[4] Dilys Powell in The Sunday Times acknowledged the steps the film-makers had taken to make the story more contemporary, but found the finished product unmoving: "There seemed to me to be a lot of dry eyes as we came out".