Robert Dudley is born into a family tainted by treason but one that is determined to rise high once more. Placed by his ambitious father, the duke of Northumberland, in the royal household, Robert spends his childhood years as playmate to the children of Henry VIII: Edward and Elizabeth Tudor. Robert watches as his father grows in both power and influence and is determined to be just like him.

But when the duke attempts to make Lady Jane Grey his puppet queen, he discovers that Mary Tudor, eldest daughter of Henry VIII, is a formidable opponent. His coup having failed, the duke is imprisoned and sentenced to death, while his sons are kept confined in the Tower of London. Some of them will never leave it alive.

But when the last of the Tudors, Elizabeth, ascends the throne, Robert's fortunes change for the better. Their friendship is quickly renewed, and Robert and Elizabeth soon set tongues wagging across Europe with talk of their scandalous behaviour. Unwilling to make him her husband but not prepared to let him have any other woman, Elizabeth keeps Robert jealously by her side. Forced to live a double life, Robert must sacrifice the thing he desires most: a family to carry on the Dudley name. He throws himself into state affairs, desperate to become a statesman before it is too late.

Can Robert earn the respect he has always craved? Or is he doomed to be forever known as the despised favourite of a Tudor queen?