London, mid-sixteenth century. On the same day, two boys are born - Tom, the son of a thief John Kenti, huddled in the stinking dead end Yard of Garbage, and Edward, the heir to King Henry the Eighth. All England is waiting for Edward; Tom is not really needed even by his own family, where only a thief father and a beggar mother have a sort of bed; at the service of the rest - the evil grandmother and the twin sisters - only a few armfuls of straw and scraps of two or three blankets.
In the same slum, in the midst of all kinds of scum, there lives an old priest who teaches Tom Kenty how to read and write, and even the beginnings of Latin, but the old man’s legends about wizards and kings are most delightful. Tom beggars not very diligently, and the laws against beggars are extremely harsh. Beaten up for negligence by his father and grandmother, hungry (except that a frightened mother will secretly slip a stale crust), lying on a straw, he paints himself sweet pictures from the life of pampered princes. Other boys from the Garbage Court are drawn into his game: Tom is a prince, they are a courtyard; all - in strict ceremonial. Once, hungry, beaten, Tom wanders to the royal palace and with such self-forgetfulness gazes through the lattice gates at the dazzling prince of Wales that the sentry throws him back into the crowd. The little prince angrily intervenes for him and brings him to his chambers. He asks Tom about his life in the Garbage Court, and the neglected plebeian games seem to him so dainty that he offers Tom to exchange clothes with him. A disguised prince is completely indistinguishable from a beggar! Noticing Tom’s bruise on his arm, he runs to drag the sentry out and gets a crack. The crowd, hooting, drives the "crazy ragman" along the road. After a long ordeal, a huge drunkard grabs him by the shoulder - this is John Kenti.
Meanwhile, the palace is anxious: the prince is crazy, he still remembers the English letter, but does not even recognize the king, a terrible tyrant, but a gentle father. Henry, by a formidable order, forbids any mention of the illness of the heir and hurries to confirm him in this dignity. To do this, you need to quickly execute the suspected treason of the marshal of Norfolk and appoint a new one. Tom is filled with horror and pity.
They teach him to hide his ailment, but misunderstandings pour in hail, at dinner he tries to drink water to wash his hands and does not know if he has the right to scratch his nose without the help of servants. Meanwhile, the execution of Norfolk is postponed due to the disappearance of the large state seal transferred to the Prince of Wales. But Tom, of course, cannot remember, even how she looks, which, however, does not prevent him from becoming the central figure of a magnificent festival on the river.
At the unfortunate prince, an angry John Kenty swings his club; an intervened old priest falls dead under his blow. Tom's mother weeps at the sight of a distraught son, but then arranges a test: he suddenly wakes him up, holding a candle in front of his eyes, but the prince does not cover his eyes with his palm outward, as Tom has always done. Mother does not know what to think. John Kenti finds out about the death of the priest and runs with the whole family. In the confusion of the festival mentioned above, the prince is hiding. And he understands that London is honoring the impostor. His indignant protests provoke new mockery. But with a sword in his hand, Miles Gendon, a stately warrior in dandy but worn clothes, repels him with a sword in his hand.
To Tom, a messenger bursts into the feast: "The king is dead!" - and the whole room erupts with clicks: "Long live the king!" And the new lord of England orders to have mercy on Norfolk - the kingdom of blood has ended! And Edward, mourning his father, with pride begins to call himself no longer a prince, but a king. In a poor tavern, Miles Gendon serves the king, although he is not even allowed to sit down. From the story of Miles, the young king learns that after many years of adventure he returns to his home, where he still has a rich old father, influenced by his treacherous pet, his youngest son Gue, another brother Arthur, as well as his beloved (and loving) cousin Edith. The king will also find shelter in Gendon Hall. Miles asks one thing - the right to him and his descendants to sit in the presence of the king.
John Kenti cunningly takes the king from under the wing of Miles, and the king falls into the thieves' gang. He manages to escape, and he finds himself in the cabin of a mad hermit who nearly kills him for the fact that his father destroyed the monasteries, introducing Protestantism in England. This time, Edward rescues John Kenti. As long as the imaginary king does the trial, surprising the nobles with his common people, the true king, among thieves and scoundrels, also meets honest people who are victims of English laws. The king’s courage ultimately helps him gain respect, even among the tramps.
The young fraudster Hugo, whom the king beat with a stick according to all the rules of fencing art, throws a stolen piglet at him, so that the king almost falls on the gallows, but is saved thanks to the resourcefulness of Miles Gendon, who appeared, as always, at the time. But in Gendon Hall they will receive a blow: father and brother Arthur died, and Gue, on the basis of a fake letter from him about the death of Miles, took possession of the inheritance and married Edith. Gyu declares Miles an impostor, Edith also renounces him, frightened by Gyu’s threat to otherwise kill Miles. Gue is so influential that no one in the county decides to identify the rightful heir,
Miles and the king go to jail, where the king again sees the action of the fierce English laws. In the end, Miles, sitting in blocks at the shameful pillar, also takes on the whips that the king brings with his insolence. Then Miles and the king go for the truth to London. And in London during the coronation procession, Tom Kenty's mother recognizes him by a characteristic gesture, but he pretends that he does not know her. Out of shame, triumph fades for him. The moment the archbishop of Canterbury is ready to lay a crown on his head, the true king appears. With the generous help of Tom, he proves his royal origin, recalling where he hid the disappeared state seal. Stunned by Miles Gendon, having difficulty getting to see the king, he defiantly sits in his presence to make sure that his eyesight is correct. Miles is rewarded with a major fortune and the rank of peer of England, along with the title of Earl of Kent. The disgraced Gue dies in a foreign land, and Miles marries Edith. Tom Kenty lives to a very old age, using special honor for “sitting on the throne”.
And King Edward the Sixth leaves a memory of himself by reigning extremely merciful at the time of cruel times. When some gilded dignitary reproached him for being too soft, the king answered in a voice full of compassion: “What do you know about oppression and torment? I know this, my people know, but not you. ”
