At birth, Princess Victoria was fourth in line for the throne of England, the often-overlooked daughter of a prince who died shortly after her birth. She and her mother lived in genteel poverty for most of her childhood, exiled from court because of her mother’s dislike of her uncles, George IV and William IV. A strong, willful child, Victoria was determined not to be stifled by her powerful uncles or her unpopular, controlling mother. Then one...

Recounts the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine, the twelfth-century queen and mother of Richard the Lionhearted, who generated a family battle that deeply affected the English throne.