Queen Elizabeth's Makeup Artist Kept One Secret About the Coronation "For the Rest of Her Days," Says Royal Biographer

Like most women, I rarely get my makeup professionally done, reserving the pros for events like my wedding or a big black tie gala. But when it came to the most monumental day of Queen Elizabeth’s life, she opted to do her own makeup—even though her cosmetician was widely credited with the look.

In Gyles Brandreth’s book Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, the royal biographer detailed the preparations for Queen Elizabeth’s June 2, 1953 coronation, including her makeup. An Australian woman named Thelma Besant was appointed as her “Cosmetician and Beauty Adviser” after she turned 18, and it was Besant who worked with Elizabeth on makeup for her wedding, coronation and other events.

Brandreth wrote that the young Queen enjoyed working with “no-nonsense” Besant, who worked for British cosmetic company Cyclax. Even though the beauty pro worked closely with Elizabeth’s team on a color scheme for her coronation makeup, the new Queen decided to skip the experts on her big day.

Besant kept a “secret for the rest of her days,” Brandreth wrote, revealing that the makeup artist wasn’t actually responsible for doing Queen Elizabeth’s makeup on the coronation day.

“She wanted Thelma on hand at the Palace in case anything should go wrong, but she asked her cosmetic adviser if she thought she would be capable of doing it on her own, because it was such a significant day in her life she felt she wanted to be alone with her thoughts at the start of it,” the biographer wrote.

It was an approach that fans were led to believe Kate Middleton followed on her April 29, 2011 wedding day. Over the years, it was widely publicized that Kate had done her own makeup using Bobbi Brown products, but in 2025, Brown debunked that rumor.

Speaking on the "Breaking Beauty" podcast, Brown said: “I didn’t do her makeup. I wish I did. It was one of my artists, Hannah Martin, who’s become quite a sensation in the U.K.”