England, late 1547. Henry VIII is dead. His 14-year-old daughter
Elizabeth is living with the old king's widow Catherine Parr and her new
husband Thomas Seymour. Ambitious, charming and dangerous, Seymour
begins an overt flirtation with Elizabeth that ends in her being sent
away by Catherine. When Catherine dies in autumn 1548 and Seymour is
arrested for treason soon after, the scandal explodes into the open.
Alone and in dreadful danger, Elizabeth is closely questioned by the
king s regency council: Was she still a virgin? Was there a child? Had
she promised to marry Seymour? In her replies, she shows the shrewdness
and spirit she would later be famous for. She survives the scandal.
Thomas Seymour is not so lucky. The Seymour Scandal led to the creation
of the Virgin Queen. On hearing of Seymour s beheading, Elizabeth
observed "This day died a man of much wit, and very little judgement."
His fate remained with her. She would never allow her heart to rule her
head again."