Jeanne Vaubernier (Pola Negri) is a poor girl, sewing for a living and barely making it in 18th-century France. But eventually she catches the attention of King Louis XV (Emil Jannings), and over time becomes the powerful man's mistress, known as Madame du Barry. She remains secretly committed to her first lover, though, a man named Armand de Foix (Harry Liedtke), and pushes for his advancement in the royal military. But true love may not be able to survive in the cruel royal court.