In the waning years of his life, but no less brutal for it, King Henry II (Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Patrick Stewart, (X-Men, Star Trek, Moby Dick, King of Texas, Family Guy) is holding Christmas court at Chinon, during which he ll announce the blood successor to his throne. Assembled for this event are his equally calculating wife, Eleanor of Acquitaine (Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs, Fatal Attraction, Damages), imprisoned for ten years by her husband for a political coup of her own; his shamelessly flaunted mistress, Alais (Julia Vysotskaia), and her venomous brother, King Philip of France (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Mission Impossible III, Bend it like Beckham Velvet Goldmine); and Henry s three sons, Prince Richard the Lionhearted (Andrew Howard, Band of Brothers), who can t fathom the depth of leadership, the shallow Prince Geoffrey ( John Light, Dracula 2), and the luckless and bumbling Prince John (Rafe Spall, The Calcium Kid). What the three siblings share is a gift for treachery.