England im 16. Jahrhundert: Der junge Arthur Dudley wächst bei seinen Zieheltern heran, ohne zu ahnen, wer seine wirklichen Eltern sind. Erst als sein Adoptivvater stirbt, verrät er Arthur das Geheimnis. Could England s Virgin Queen , Elizabeth I, have borne her lover, Robin Dudley, Earl of Leicester, a son? Most historians dismiss such tales as idle gossip but others speak of a young man named Arthur Dudley... Set against the background of the Spanish Armada s invasion of England in 1588, two parallel tales unfold. One is Queen Elizabeth s story: her lifelong and passionate affair with Leicester; her politically dangerous pregnancy and elaborate scheme to conceal it from the world. The other is the story of Arthur, their illegitimate son, born alive but secretly swapped at birth and totally unaware of his true identity. His story collides with that of his mother when, from his adoptive father s deathbed, he hears the amazing truth of his parentage. A rich evocation of 1588 England follows the adventures of Arthur Dudley, the illegitimate child of Elizabeth I, who is presumed dead by his real parents and who only learns of his true identity at his adoptive father's death. By the author of The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn and The Virgin Elizabeth from Robin Maxwell's acclaimed Elizabethan Quartet.


