Sixteen-year-old Bavarian duchess Elisabeth "Sisi" falls in love with her sister's intended fiancé Emperor Franz Joseph and the two later marry. She moves to Vienna and finds herself having to navigate the complexity of court politics and her husband's scheming family members. Her mother-in-law Sophia, who is also her aunt, antagonizes her almost immediately. Her brother-in-law Maximilian, Franz Joseph's younger brother, keeps trying to outshine his older brother and prove that he is more worthy to rule.