Rudolf Rassendyll, an idle English gentleman with adventure in his blood, bears an uncanny resemblance to the royal house of Ruritania, thanks to a scandal generations back. On a whim he travels to the little kingdom to glimpse the coronation of its new king, only to find himself drawn into a deadly intrigue. The king's ruthless half-brother schemes to seize the throne, and on the eve of the crowning, the monarch is treacherously put out of commission. To save the crown, the king's loyal men beg Rudolf to do the unthinkable: impersonate the king himself. Hope's dashing 1894 adventure of courage, disguise, and danger begins.