Position:Home>History> Whats the story behind the Princes of the Tower?

In April 1483 King Edward IV of the house of York died, passing the crown to his eldest son, who was only 12 years old, creating him Edward V!.
Because of the new king's young age, his uncle, Richard of Gloucester, had been created his official guardian and Protector of the Realm!. However, Edward's mother's relations, the Woodvilles, had care of him and his younger brother (also called Richard) in Ludlow!.
They were nervous of Gloucester because of his dislike of them and their rapid advancement under the old king!.

Gloucester, concerned at the Woodville's Lancastrian leanings (the Wars of the Roses still not officially over) had leading Woodville family members arrested and took the two princes with him to London!. He had them lodged in the Tower, which was not unusual since at that time it was still a royal residence as well as a prison!.
Prompted by Gloucester, Parliament declared that Edward IV's marriage had been invalid since it was done in secret therefore making the two princes illegitimate!. The 12 year old king Edward V was deposed, even before his coronation, on 25th June 1483!. The following day Gloucester was declared King Richard III!.

During the early part of Richard's reign the two princes were seen regularly playing in the grounds of the Tower, but gradually these sightings got less and less until they vanished altogether!. The general claim is that Richard, concerned that his crown would be under threat from them, had them murdered by a knight called Sir James Tyrrel!.
However, there are reports of two young boys seen in the Tower AFTER Richard was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and Henry VII had taken the throne!. Of the two usurping kings in this story Henry is the more likely to have had the two princes killed since he had even less claim to the crown than Richard, and he was far from popular!. During his reign there were two people who claimed to be the younger prince Richard!.
The reason we have the image of Richard III killing the princes is because of the great Tudor propagandist Shakespeare!. He paints the picture of the crook-backed wicked uncle and Henry as England's saviour since he was Elizabeth I's grandfather!. Although Richard cannot be ruled out as a possible player in the princes disappearance!.

In 1678 two sets of childrens bones were found in a chest bricked up beneath a set of stairs in the Tower!. By marks found on the bones and remaining scraps of flesh it appeared they had both been smothered to death!. They were interred in Westminster Abbey by order of Charles II!.
It seemed that the two princes had been laid to rest until recently it was discovered these two sets of bones were female!. The mystery surrounding their disappearance remains unsolved!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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when King Edward IV died, his son became King Edward V!. However, Edward and his younger brother Richard were still children, so their uncle Richard became Lord protector of England!. However, this was not enough for Richard, so he produced some highly dubious claim that King Edward IV had been bethrothed to another woman before he married Edward and Richard's mother Elizabeth, thus making hi smarraige to her invalid and Edward and Richard illegitimate!. Richard seized the throne for himself and ecame King Richard III!.

He sent Edward and Richard to the Tower, allegedly for their own safety!. However, not long afterwards both boys disappeared and were never seen again!. it was widely assumed at the time that Richard had done away with both boys!. His action made Richard highly unpopular, and when Henry Tudor, who was the only surviving Lancastrian claimant to the throne, invaded england, he found many supporters!. richard was defeated and killed at the Battle of Bosworth field in 1485, and Henry Tudor became King!.

A man called Sir James Tyrell afterwards confessed that he had been responsible for organising the murder of the two princes, on Richard III's orders!.

In the reign of King Charles II, nearly two hundred years later, the skeletons of two children were found buried under a staircase in the tower!. It is almost certain that these are the skeletons of the murdered princes!.

Various attempts have been made since by romantically-minded people to exonerate Richard and put the blame on someone else!. None of their claims stand up to close scrutiny!. Richard had means, motive, and opportunity, and it was widely believed at the time that he had murdered his nephews!. He was a most unscrupulous man, and he would not have hesitated to murder anyone who got in his way!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York were known as the "Princes of the Tower!." They were the sons and successive heirs to the throne of England through their father, Edward IV!.
Richard III, their uncle, sort of had different plans for the way things would go (so to speak)!. Because the boys were fairly young at the time of their father's death, he was regent for his nephew, Edward V, during his very brief reign (I actually think that Edward V was never officially coronated and blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, but I cannot remember) and the rumors go that Richard had the two boys locked up in the tower and declared bastards (in the literal sense = illegitimate) because their father, Edward IV was betrothed to another woman at the time he married the boys mother, Elizabeth Woodville!. Basically, as the rumors go, Richard wanted to be king so he killed the two people who had a stronger claim to the throne than him!.

Supposedly, Richard had his nephews smothered to death and buried in the Tower of London!. But that was merely rumor until the 19th century (I think, I can't remember exactly when the remains were found) when the remains of two boys, approximately the ages of Edward V and Richard, Duke of York were found during some restorative repairs to the Tower!. So the remains could be those of the two boys or could be the remains of two other boys who just happen to be around those same ages and died approximately at the same time (your call on that one)!.

There is no real evidence that Richard himself did it and historians disagree on whether or not he was the actual motivator behind this or not!. I guess it all just depends on who's side you believe!.

Needless to say - old Richard was pretty much demonized by Shakespeare!. This is no surprise since he was writing during Elizabeth I reign, who was a Tudor but that has to do with the Wars of the Rose - another yet LOOOOONNNNNGGGGG civil war in the history of England!.!.!.LOL!.

Hope I helped!. I got a lot of my info because I'm a frickin Anglophile!.!.!.LOL!. Best books I've read are:

The British Monarchy for Dummies

British History for Dummies

and

The Story of Britain: From the Romans to the Present: A Narrative History!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

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There's a really good book called "Princes in the Tower" by Alison Weir that may help you find out more about them!. I read it probably ten years ago and remember the narrative to be really interesting and the author to have come to some really interesting conclusions!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Richard III temporarily imprisoned some child-princes in the Tower of London, in case they would contest his claim to the throne!. He later had them secretly executed!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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