The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

In this book a fictitious account is made of the actual son (and third living child) of Henry VIII. Edward who will soon become King swaps clothes and then by mischance swaps place with a look-alike pauper who has the hard life in Charring Cross, London. Befriended by few, Prince Edward must then overcome the sudden lowering of his status, whilst at the same time Tom (the pauper) must endure a meteoric rise in his. All of this literally at the time of King Henry's death.
Twain's account is both satirical and thought-provoking in a general sense, and dramatic in the sense that the reader continues to wonder whether the Pauper or the true Prince will rise to be King upon the date of coronation.