Hi my name is Kevin Hicks, welcome to my YouTube channel the History Squad. Now what we're doing
today is a video that's been voted in by our Patreon members, it's a favorite topic of mine
it's the Princes in the Tower, the medieval mystery of those two boys. Were they murdered,
did they escape? For centuries people have pondered on this very subject so we're going
to have a little look at some of the things surrounding the Princes in the Tower and some
of the theories as to what happened to them. Now remember before I actually go into this
I am totally impartial I am not on one side or the other, so stick around let's have some fun.
So here we are setting the scene for the medieval mystery, the murder, disappearance of the Princes
in the Tower. Now we're going to introduce you to some of the characters but before we do
remember these were real people and those boys were real if they were murdered they
would have suffered but let's have a look at who's involved. First of all we got the king,
Edward IV he's married to Elizabeth Woodville they have two sons Edward
and Richard. Edward should become Edward V and Richard should become the Duke of York. One of the
sisters is Elizabeth who will become Elizabeth of York. This is fine until husband,
through gluttony they reckon, dies 1483. He's dead, that leaves Elizabeth with her children,
but of course Edward should be the king but he's too young, 12 years of age. He can be crowned as
king but he needs somebody to guide him. Let's move Elizabeth just off stage a little bit
and on comes the good uncle Richard Duke of Gloucester. This is all wonderful,
he can guide and protect his nephews Edward and Richard except there's a problem here
before Edward can be crowned, Richard Duke of Gloucester discovers that his brother was in fact
married before this makes him a bigamist, this means that his marriage is void
and his children are illegitimate, and therefore cannot rule and so Richard becomes Richard III.
So the first theory and of course it's the most popular theory it is that Richard III,
King of England murdered his nephews and wards Edward V and Richard Duke of York.
This is made famous by the Tudor play, William Shakespeare’s Richard III.
It turns Richard III into some kind of a monster uncle but I think it's more Tudor propaganda,
but there is an account written at the time and this is from uh Dominic Mancini
an Italian friar who was in London at the time and this is, this is actually what he wrote.
All the attendants who had waited on the king that's Edward the fifth, were debarred access to
him. He and his brother were withdrawn into the inner apartments of the tower proper,
this is prison yeah, and day by day they began to be seen more rarely behind the bars and windows,
till at length they ceased to appear altogether. And he goes on. Already there is a suspicion that
he, Edward V, had been done away with. Whether he was done away with and by what manner of death,
so far I have not yet discovered. So he leaves England uh July 1483 yeah? Just remember that
and then he starts to tell this story and the rumors grow from this story, about you know how
Richard III has murdered his nephews. The theory grows and yet there were never any accusations
leveled at Richard III nobody ever pointed the finger and there's another little twist here
later on in the summer so I’ve read the Princes in the Tower were seen playing on the lawn.
Theory two.
Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham he, he figures. Did he kill the Princes in the Tower? Where are
they, let's put them there bless them. If he did, did he do it for himself? Because he did have a
claim to the throne or did he do it on behalf of Richard III who then had him executed in November
of 1483, but there again he had led a bit of the Buckingham revolt or did he do it for somebody
completely different did he do it for Margaret Beaufort who was the mother of Henry Tudor
paving the way for them to come to the throne so it's a little bit interesting isn't it that this
particular guy could have done it was he executed to keep him quiet
did he do it for Richard III or did he do it for himself or did he do it to pave the way
for the Tudors? We'll never really know will we? This is the least likely candidate apparently.
So the next one is the most recent theory and it comes from
Tim Thornton and what he's investigated and it really is quite something it lays the blame
Richard III right, so there he is but the evidence comes
from Thomas More, the Tudor the man close to Henry VIII. Now this has been dismissed in
the past because Tudor propaganda the way that uh Richard III was belittled
by Thomas More and then of course Shakespeare, however this gets more involved the investigation
really does take on quite something of a of a police role. So let's put these two
characters Richard III and Thomas More to the back. Let's bring in Sir James Tyrell,
who actually survives and is tortured, and under torture he confesses
to being part of the murder of the Princes in the Tower. His accomplices,
John Dyton and Miles Forrest,
there they are, smothered the princes then their bodies were buried the bottom of the stairs then
on the orders of Richard were dug up and buried elsewhere. Which is interesting because of the
two skeletal remains that were found at the foot of the stairs. Now Tyrell is executed.
These guys, the murderers they pass away. However apparently the sons of Miles Forrest
are interviewed by Thomas More and they give the story, so I understand, of the murder of
the Princes in the Tower. How Tyrell with his accomplices did indeed smother them with a pillow
bury them dig them up rebury them somewhere else all on the orders of Richard III. This is really
compelling and it's quite important because you're starting to get some evidence here written down,
however as a retired police officer, I'm going to put my oar in here, my finger in the spoke
shall we say. Can you trust the confession of a man who's been tortured? Because I know for sure
a person is a duress especially under pain they might just tell you the story you want to hear
but hey Thomas More honorable man telling the truth? Tyrell telling the truth?
Well that's for you to decide, me I am totally impartial to this. Theory number four. Lady
Margaret Beaufort again, she makes an appearance. Did she give the order for the princes to be
murdered? Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, did she tell him pay him urge him to do it
paving the way for her son Henry Tudor later to become Henry VII? Was she the one? She didn't have
access actually to the tower itself or the, the Princes in the Tower but later on if they'd have
been moved or if they escaped and she knew where they were could she have given the order could
she have got to Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham, got him to do it she is a candidate, um or is she?
So another theory, then Henry VII did it. Well quite possibly, if you take after the victory
at the battle of Bosworth, Richard the third is dead, anybody who stands in the way of Henry is
put to the axe he, is determined that he will take the throne and it will be secure for he
and his descendants, and don't forget that Henry was married to Elizabeth of York
the sister of the Princes in the Tower but there's a little bit more to this.
Why didn't Henry point the finger at Richard III why didn't he rubbish him some more?
Well there's one theory was that England was divided we still had Yorkist/Lancastrian and
they had suffered so much after the ought during and after the Wars of the Roses, the last thing
he needed was to create a deeper division, because marrying one of the daughters of his enemy, well
his niece, Richard the third's niece he's, it's kind of a healing process
or was it a mask to the fact that Henry the, Henry VII, I nearly said fourth, Henry the seventh
did do away with the Princes in the Tower. Later on knew where they were just to make sure
he clears the way for him to be king and secure the dynasty, the dynasty of the Tudors.
So the final theory the Princes in the Tower survived they escaped. Now there were pretenders
to this we've got this chap here Perkin Warbeck he proclaimed that he was Richard Duke of York
which would mean that Edward V apparently had died of natural causes but if you get rid of
this one and presume that it was Richard of York who died of natural causes that leaves you with
Edward V. And down in Coldridge in Devon in St Matthew’s church
there is possibly evidence that he may have survived. You've got, uh I’ve got his name,
John Dyke who has done some research into this, apparently four years worth, which I
think is fantastic. You see inside St Matthew’s church there, there are the Yorkist symbols all
over the church, the sun in splendor the, the white rose of York and also there is an image of
a young man in ermine which is said to be Edward V. There is also the tomb there of John Evans and
on the tomb it has Evas. Evas, you break that down EV Edward V. A S, AS in Latin in sanctuary
Edward V in sanctuary, and to really twist this a little bit more that church is on the land of
the prince's half-brother Thomas Gray. Just a theory now could it be that their mother
Elizabeth Woodville made a deal with Richard III to take her sons keep them away
and then their half-brother Thomas Gray could be bought out from exile being no threat whatsoever
to Richard III. This to me is fascinating did Richard have him killed? Was it some other Duke?
Was it the Tudors? Well for me I am completely non-biased in this and I'm going to leave it to
you to try and figure it out for yourself. Well I hope you enjoyed that film if you did thumbs
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