"Long ago and far away, in a village high on a mountaintop, something amazing was occurring. At the very same moment, two identical baby girls were born! One, a baby princess. The king and queen were overjoyed. Princess Anneliese would have only the finest. The second baby girl was named Erika. Her parents loved her every bit as much as the king and queen loved the princess, but they worried. They were so poor. How would they be able to care for their little daughter? Many years passed. The princess learned her royal duties, while Erika worked long and hard as a seamstress for the spiteful Madame Carp. With lives so different, it wasn't surprising that the princess and the pauper never met. But fate decreed they would. [opening title] It all started at the royal mine, where the miners informed the queen the gold had run out. The widowed queen was shocked. The kingdom was now bankrupt. How was she going to take care of her people? If only she could call on her trusted adviser Preminger, but he was away on a long journey. She needed to do something quickly to save the kingdom, but what? And then it struck her. Nearby lived a rich young king who was seeking a wife."