Professor Suzannah Lipscomb goes in search of the truth about Lady Jane Grey, the young Tudor claimant who was Queen of England for less than 2 weeks. Moving beyond the popular image of Jane as a hapless victim placed on the throne by her cousin Edward VI and her manipulative father-in-law the Duke of Northumberland, Suzannah challenges the mythology surrounding Jane, typified by Paul Delaroche's famous painting of her execution.

The series explores Jane's short life through extraordinary examples of her own writing, her exceptional education and her self-assured personality.

The journey begins at the British Library with the prayer book Jane took with her to her execution. In the margins she wrote personal, farewell messages to her jailer and her father in her final hours. These poignant inscriptions reveal a woman of remarkable composure and bravery, offering a testament to the real woman and queen.