Elizabeth Tudor was the second child of the famous king Henry VIII. Henry broke with the Roman Catholic Church in order to marry Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn. In 1536, he executed Anne, leaving the three-year-old Princess Elizabeth without a mother.

Although Elizabeth received an outstanding education, her youth was deeply troubled. During her father's remaining years and the brief and troubled reigns of her half-brother Edward VI and half-sister Mary I, the young Elizabeth braved scandal and conspiracy. But with wisdom beyond her years, she prepared for her time on the throne.