The King's favorite daughter, Princess Fa-Ying (Melissa Campbell), dies of cholera. Yet she appears after her death with the rest of the royal family briefly aboard the royal steamboat as the King attempts to take the royal family to safety from the insurgents marching toward the palace. Then, after the ship lands, the King and family pray at a shrine to Buddha, and Princess Fa-Ying is again seen with the rest of the children as the insurgents approach from the other side of the river.
The copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" that Anna gives to Prince Chulalongkorn has a dark brown cover. The one he is later seen reading, and the one his father, King Mongkut, later holds up, are both blue.
After the fight between Prince Chulalongkorn and Louis, King Mongkut goes and investigates the reason for the fight; he sees Louis writing lines and his son just standing there. Chulalongkorn is on Anna's right while Louis is on her left. Later, when Louis is finished writing his lines he is on her right and the prince is on her left.
The Thai language used between the King and his prime minister is not royal Thai language, but everyday Thai language. Everyday Thai language is never used to speak to a member of the royal family, especially the King.
Upon introducing his queens and concubines to Anna, Mongkut states that his concubines are not as numerous as those of the Emperor of China.
Emperor Tongzhi was 5 years old at his ascension. Tongzhi married Empress Xiaozheyi and two official concubines in 1872 at the age of 16. He later married two more Official Concubines before his death from smallpox at age 18 in 1872, which is four Concubines. Tongzhi preferred the company of his wife, Empress Xiaozheyi, to that of any of his four Concubines.
Emperor Tongzhi was 5 years old at his ascension. Tongzhi married Empress Xiaozheyi and two official concubines in 1872 at the age of 16. He later married two more Official Concubines before his death from smallpox at age 18 in 1872, which is four Concubines. Tongzhi preferred the company of his wife, Empress Xiaozheyi, to that of any of his four Concubines.
At the banquet with the British, the children sing 'Daisy Daisy' (Bicycle made for two) song which was not created until thirty years after this film was set.
Anna tells the king that she has been thinking of many journeys that go nowhere and she asks what Buddha would say to that. The king says, "Roads are for journeys, not for destinations." The correct quote is, "Roads were made for journeys, not destinations." This quote was not from Buddha, but from Confucius.
Louis finds his father's military tunic in a trunk. He also has his father's army bugle. Louis' father was not a Major, he was actually a Sapper, which is the British Engineer's equivalent of a Private. Sappers are soldiers who work in the Engineer Brigades to build roads, buildings, earthworks, breachwork and the like. They are also trained as provisional, or secondary Infantry. As such, there is no reason why his father would have had a bugle. The idea that he had been a Major was an invention of Anna Leonowens. At the time of his death, Thomas Leonowens was working in Penang as a hotel keeper. He died between the last couple of days in April 1859 to the first week of May 1859 and was buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Penang on May 7, 1859.
A class of children are seen singing "Daisy Bell" ("A Bicycle Built for Two") which was published by Harry Dacre in 1892. This movie is set in the 1860s.
In the scene where Anna first meets the King, the French ambassadors are delivering "a present from the King of France" (in French in the dialogue). In the 1860's France did not have a king any longer: its leader Napoleon III had the title of "Emperor".
When Anna and King Mongkut first dance, the song being heard has full instrumentation (horns, woodwinds, etc.). But all the views of the musicians entering the ballroom and playing show only string instruments.
The violins in the orchestra at the anniversary celebration are obviously not in sync with the music they are "playing".
Anna uses the word "Asian." Yet in British English this means East Indian. She would have said "Oriental."