Montgomery Royle is a famed pianist whose much-younger student Grace Blair believes herself to be in love with him. When an explosion destroys Royle's hearing, he is bitter at the loss of his art and profession. His sister Florence persuades him to learn lip-reading as a way to break out of the isolation of deafness. Royle discovers a new meaning to his life when he uses his ne...
On the same day two boys are born: the pauper Tom and prince Edward. As a kid, Tom sneaks into the palace garden and meets the prince. They change clothes with each other but the guards discover them and throw out the prince, since they are almost identical. Nobody believe them when they try to tell the truth. Soon after, the old king dies and the prince will inherit the throne...
18岁的玛丽（凯瑟琳·赫本 Katharine Hepburn 饰）从法国回到了苏格兰，推翻了冒牌王后伊丽莎白（弗萝伦丝·艾尔德里吉 Florence Eldridge 饰）的统治。宫里的大臣们虽然表面效忠于玛丽王后，但背地里各怀鬼胎。
在大臣们的逼迫之下，玛丽王后借给了好色的达恩利王（道格拉斯·沃尔顿 Douglas Walton 饰），这段政治联姻让玛丽感到非常的痛苦。大臣们企图利用昏庸的达恩利王谋反，在阴谋得逞之后将其谋杀，紧接着又将他的死，嫁祸给了玛丽的第二任丈夫博斯威尔（弗雷德里克·马奇 Fredric March 饰）。就在玛丽因为政权焦头烂额之际，伊丽莎白提出想要帮她一把，可这个阴险的女人亦有着自己的算盘。
