The epic story of Grand Duke Michael, younger brother of Tsar Nicholas II, a career soldier, who defied the Romanov code to marry a commoner and divercee. Based on the letters and diaries of Michael and Natasha, only now available from former soviet archives. The love story crosses Europe in the golden age before the first world war, including a period when Michael is banished from Russia, his assets sequestered and even his mother refuses to acknowledge his bride. Welcomed back to Russia to command a regiment after the outbreak of war, Michaelfinds himself at odds with Nicholas and his irrational wife Alexandra. He is appalled at the influence of Rasputin. Later, Michael finds himself decreed Tsarduring revolution and imprisoned. Natasha escapes Russia with their son and her daughter.