Grave beauty: could this be the face of Lord Nelson's lover Lady Hamilton?

Emma Hamilton, whose wit and intelligence saw her rise in society and win the heart of Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, was one of the great female celebrities of her time.

- Kim Willsher

Now, more than 200 years after she died amid drink and debt in Calais, French scientists have identified what they believe are Lady Hamilton’s remains.

Experts say they cannot be certain the bones, discovered in a tomb in the “English section” of a graveyard in Calais and exhumed in 2021, are hers. However, a digital reconstruction of a face from the largely intact skull bears a remarkable likeness, France’s foremost forensic pathologist has said.

“There’s every chance it’s her but we cannot be entirely certain,” said Dr Philippe Charlier. “We have a skull that is in very good condition and about 80% of a skeleton that has been lying in the earth.”

Examination and carbon dating of the bones pointed to a woman aged between 45 and 55 who died around 1815, Charlier said. Hamilton was 49 when she died on 15 January 1815.

“Traces on the mouth and teeth suggest alcohol abuse, though the rest of the body appears to have been in a healthy state. There were no traces of conditions and diseases like rickets, common in the general population at the time,” Charlier added.