King Edward IV of England had a tumultuous reign, and his young son Edward V had been born in sanctuary at Westminster Abbey during a brief time when his father was deposed during the War of the Roses, a series of civil wars fought between two rival noble houses, those of the House of Lancaster and the House of York (of which Edward IV was a member), who both laid claim to the throne of England.
When Edward V was 12 years old, his father died suddenly and unexpectedly following an illness. At the time, he was once more the King of England, and 12-year-old Edward V was expected to take his place, traveling from Ludlow to London for his coronation.
In his will, Edward IV had named his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the regent and Lord Protector during Edward V’s minority, making him the guardian of both Edward V and his nine-year-old brother, Prince Richard of Shrewsbury. On his way to London, Edward V was met by his uncle, who arrested the young prince’s retinue and imprisoned them in Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire, where they were subsequently beheaded.
The Tower of London
At the time, it was common practice for new regents to be housed at the Tower of London until their coronation. Such was the case with Edward V, who was brought there by Richard of Gloucester and later joined by his brother, Prince Richard, on June 16. In the meantime, Gloucester ruled as Lord Protector.
However, Edward V’s coronation never came. First, it was delayed from May 4 until June 25. On June 22, a sermon was preached at Saint Paul’s Cross which named Gloucester the only legitimate heir to the throne, arguing that Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville had been illegitimate, and therefore his children were, too.
On June 25, a “group of lords, knights and gentlemen” petitioned for Gloucester to take the throne in Edward V’s place and by July 6, he had done just that. In January of 1484, Parliament passed the Titulus Regius, which formally declared the marriage of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville illegitimate and made Gloucester King Richard III of England. It was repealed by the following year.
In the meantime, however, the two young princes were still in the Tower of London…where they would remain until their disappearance and presumed deaths.
What Became of the Princes in the Tower?
'The Children of Edward' by Paul Delaroche, 1830.
Photo Credit: WikipediaOn May 19, 1483, Edward V was lodged in the Tower of London. By June 16, he had been joined by his brother. Neither were ever seen again after the summer of that year, by which time their uncle had taken the throne from his nephew. So, what became of them? Most sources assume that they never left the tower alive.
A visiting Italian friar wrote that the children were moved into the “inner apartments” of the Tower before their disappearance, and many historians, scholars, and writers of fiction believe that they were subsequently murdered, with most accounts—both contemporary and subsequent—placing the blame squarely on Richard III.
In Shakespeare’s Richard III, the new king employs an assassin in the form of Sir James Tyrell to slay the two young princes. Tyrell was a real person, a knight loyal to Richard III, who was later accused of treason in 1502, on counts unrelated to the deaths of the young princes. According to Sir Thomas More, Tyrell confessed to the murders of the princes during the examination which preceded his execution, though there is no official record of his statements, and other accounts do not corroborate this claim.
The Short, Sad Reign of Richard III
The first major rebellion against Richard III took place within months of his coronation. The second, which took place in 1485, saw him slain during the Battle of Bosworth Field, making him the last English king to die in battle.
The rebellion which threw down Richard III did not raise Edward V to the throne of England, however, because by then he was already believed to be dead. Instead, the rebels rallied around Henry Tudor. He took the throne when Richard III died in battle, making him the first monarch of the House of Tudor, which would continue to hold the throne until 1603.
Assuming Richard III really did have his nephews killed, it seems to have done him no favors. Their disappearance turned many throughout the country against him, and historian Anthony Cheetham, in his Life and Times of Richard III called it “a colossal blunder,” stating that “nothing else could have prompted the deflated Woodvilles to hitch themselves to Henry Tudor’s bandwagon.”
Bones in the Tower
Though many believed that the princes had been killed, their bodies were never discovered, which has led some to speculate that they actually survived. In fact, several individuals throughout the years claimed to be the surviving princes, with some even being temporarily crowned or held up as possible candidates for the throne.
In 2012, the remains of Richard III were allegedly found under a parking lot in Leicester. Phillipa Langley, one of the researchers instrumental in that discovery, then turned her attention to what she called The Missing Princes Project, which hoped to conclusively determine what had become of Edward V and his brother. Despite several leads, it has yet to produce incontrovertible proof of their fate or their survival.
Not that everyone believed they were still missing. In 1674, workers in the Tower of London had discovered a wooden box beneath a staircase which contained two child-sized skeletons. At the time, many believed that these were the bodies of the two princes, and under the order of King Charles II they were interred as such, within the walls of Westminster Abbey, where they remain to this day, behind an inscription which states, “Here lie interred the remains of Edward V, King of England, and Richard, Duke of York, whose long desired and much sought after bones, after over a hundred and ninety years, were found interred deep beneath the rubble of the stairs that led up to the chapel of the White Tower, on the 17 of July in the Year of Our Lord 1674.”
Nor were the bones in the Tower the only putative bodies thought to be those of the princes in the Tower. In 1789, workers in St. George’s Chapel accidentally broke into the vault of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. There, they found what appeared to be a small, adjoining vault, which contained two unidentified, child-sized coffins. However, the vault was re-sealed, and the contents of the coffins were never confirmed.
Subsequent requests to reexamine both sets of remains have thus far not been approved by authorities, meaning that for the time being at least, the fate of the Princes in the Tower will remain a mystery for the ages.
Sources: Westminster Abbey, Historic Royal Palaces
