Tutankhamun was bucktoothed, had womanly hips and suffered from a club foot, the most detailed examination ever on the mummified remains of the boy king has revealed.
The so-called "virtual autopsy" was carried out by Italian researchers and composed of more than 2000 computer scans.
Along with the scans, researchers from Italy's Institute for Mummies and the Iceman studied carried out DNA analysis of the young Pharaoh's family, which supported evidence that his parents were brother and sister.
"Tut was the child of Akhenaten, who had a relationship with his sister," Professor Albert Zink said, adding that ancient Egyptians were not aware of the dangers related to interbreeding.
Scientists believe this left him with physical impairments triggered by hormonal imbalances. And his family history could also have led to his premature death in his late teens.
"The virtual autopsy shows the toes are divergent – in layman’s terms it’s club foot. He would have been heavily limping," Egyptian radiologist Ashraf Selim said.
Various historians suggested the King Tut was murdered or died during a chariot crash after tests found fractures in his skull and other parts of his body.
These latest revelations, however, may suggest that the young king died of an inherited illness because only one of the breaks occurred before he died, while his club foot would have made chariot racing impossible.
The revelations will be explored in the upcoming BBC One documentary Tutankhamun: The Truth Uncovered.