A two-act drama based around the illness and death of Frederick III, son-in-law of Queen Victoria, who reigned as German Emperor for only three months in 1888. The other characters include his wife Victoria, German Empress; their son William, who succeeded him as Emperor; Queen Victoria, the Empress's mother; the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII; Prince Bismarck, German Chancellor; and Dr Morell Mackenzie, the British doctor in charge of the case. The title comes from a letter written by the Empress to Queen Victoria in which she says she thinks 'people in general consider us a mere passing shadow, soon to be replaced by reality in the shape of William'