Season 1 - Episode Guide

In the first episode, Elizabeth II is born a minor princess in the second rank of the royal family and grows up away from the limelight. Elizabeth I is the only child of Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn but, as a girl, she is an immediate disappointment. After Henry executes her mother, the young Elizabeth is cast into the wilderness. However, for both Elizabeths an extraordinary sequence of events will catapult them both onto the throne and their journey through trauma and disruption will make them strong.

The concluding episode examines the importance of two women who enter the two Queen's lives; Mary, Queen of Scots and Diana, Princess of Wales. When these two young women join the Royal circle, they are expected to be great additions to the court, but in both cases, it starts to become clear that Mary and Diana's enormous popularity, beauty and sparkle are in sharp contrast to the duty-bound queens.