意大利统一的关键因素之一是1860年两西西里国王弗朗切斯科二世的垮台，他与王后玛丽亚·索菲亚优雅但贫困地流亡到罗马。这部严肃喜剧讲述了被废黜的王室成员适应新生活的故事。这位前国王已经认识到他被废黜的政治结局，但他的王后却开始穿着男装走遍意大利，试图煽动起义，让他们恢复王位；她也疯狂地 想要一个孩子，一个继承人。但国王已决定成为独身者，以表达对他深爱的母亲的敬意；他把所有的时间都花在游说梵蒂冈，试图让她被封为圣人。

One of the key factors in Italian unification was the overthrow in 1860 of Francesco, the King of Naples and the two Sicilies, who went into elegant but impoverished exile in Rome with his Queen, Maria Sofia. This seriocomic drama follows the deposed royals as they adapt to their new lives. The former king has recognized the political finality of his deposition, but his queen has taken to traveling in men's clothing all over Italy trying to foment an uprising to restore them to the throne. She is also frantic to have a baby, an heir, but the king has become celibate as a kind of homage to his beloved mother; he spends all his time lobbying the Vatican to get her declared a saint.

Re Francesco II di Borbone (1836-94) e sua moglie in esilio a Roma dopo l'avanzata garibaldina. Lui stanco e sfiduciato, lei ossessionata dal desiderio di un erede e di recuperare il potere.