From the day she was born, Charlotte won the hearts of her subjects and yet behind the scenes she was used, abducted and victimised by rivalries - between her parents; between her Father (the Prince Regent, later George IV) and (Mad King) George III; between her tutors, governesses and other members of her discordant household; and ultimately between the Whigs and Tories. Her death in childbirth - the result of medical incompetence - was followed by an unseemly scramble to produce a substitute heir. Queen Victoria was the product. This is the tragic story of the doomed romance between Charlotte, heir to the English throne, and Leopold, first King of the Belgians.