In May 1940 eighteen-year old Geoffrey Wellum joins the 92 squadron of the Royal Air Force and is taken to the pub,where pilots who have seen action sign their names on a blackboard. Next day,with no flying experience,he is expected to pilot a Spitfire;he is nervous but exhilarated. Soon he is seeing action against the Luftwaffe,his sense of duty dispelling fear,and,having taken part in the Battle of Britain,is awarded a medal,though he never signs the blackboard. By 1941 he has flown fifty missions and feels invincible,though he sees friends die and in 1942 the stress causes him to have a breakdown. However he survives the war and,in the present,talks direct to camera,voicing his feelings about his service experiences.

Jules Daly is struggling to raise her orphaned niece and nephew (Maggie and Milo) alone, but it isn't easy after getting downsized out of her antique sales job while Milo rebels against the death of his parents through petty theft. With things looking bleak for Christmas, an English butler named Paisley arrives with an invitation for all to come see the kids' emotionally distant grandfather who lives in Castlebury Hall, somewhere near Liechtenstein. With nothing to hold them back, they go, but the grandfather - Edward, Duke of Castlebury - is rather cold over their visit to his castle. So is his other surviving son, Ashton, Prince of Castlebury. Before long, they're all having a good time and looking forward to hosting a Christmas Eve ball, but Jules overhears a conversation from which she draws a wrong conclusion.