Inside the Tower of London, one of the darkest stories of the Medieval period emerged during
the Wars of the Roses.
The Tower of London is remembered for being a place of execution with 3 Queens of England
losing their heads there, but there were many other members of the English royal family
who were killed or died inside the walls of the prison.
Elizabeth of York the mother of the Tudor dynasty died there, but there were two young
boys who in the 1480s were allegedly murdered inside the walls of the notorious prison,
and one of them was the heir in waiting,
King Edward V. Following the death of his father Edward IV, his eldest son along with
his young brother Richard of Shrewsbury the Duke of York were awaiting the coronation
however mysteriously and suspiciously the pair disappeared from site.
In 1674, a number of workmen unearthed some remains of two small human Skelentons presumed
to be the remains of the boy who should have been King, and also the prince.
But it’s alleged that Richard III, the man who then seized the throne, their uncle may
have been behind the disappearance.
Join us today as we look at one of History’s most famous mysteries.
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Edward IV died on the 9th April 1483 after a short bout of illness, and at the time Edward’s
son the new King Edward V was at Ludlow Castle.
The plan was for the heir and his younger brother to be taken to the Tower of London
to await their coronation, and Richard the Duke of Gloucester, the future Richard III
was instilled as the Lord Protector of the two boys.
Richard was the uncle of the boys, and would have been the uncle of the King, but as Edward
V and Richard left for London they met at Stony Stratford.
Following this meeting, Richard III then arrested the travelling party including Anthony Woodville
the 2nd Earl Rivers and their half brother Sir Richard Grey and these two were then later
executed.
Richard III took possession of the two princes himself, and then they all travelled to London.
The plan was for Edward V to be coronated on the 4th May but this was postponed until
the 25th June.
On the 19th May 1483, Edward V was inside the Tower of London awaiting his coronation
which was customary at the time, and on the 16th June he was then joined by his younger
brother the Duke of York.
Following this Richard III then postponed indefinitely the crowning of the boy king,
and he then launched a tirade against his former brother claiming that the two boys
were in fact illegitimate and had no right to the throne.
Richard III’s claim gathered more support, and then the two princes inside the Tower
were declared illegitimate by Parliament, and this was later confirmed in an Act of
Parliament.
It stated that Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville’s marriage was invalid due to Edward already
agreeing to marry another woman, and with this the Boy’s uncle was then crowned King
Richard III on the 6th July.
Many people believed him to have been a usurper, but as Richard seized the throne, the story
of the two princes continued and remains a rather dark part of his legacy.
We know that the boys were together inside of the Tower of London.
One Italian Friar who visited London in the summer of 1483 stated that following Richard
III’s seizure of the throne, Edward V and his younger brother Richard were taken into
the inner apartments of the Tower of London, and that they were seen less and less until
they seemingly disappeared forever.
He recorded that during this time Edward V was regularly visited by a doctor, and he
viewed him as ‘like a victim prepared for sacrifice, sought remission of his sins by
daily confession and penance, because he believed that death was facing him.’
It’s possible that he may have been ill, but he may have been suspicious of the fact
he could have been murdered as having Edward V was very dangerous for the new king Richard
III.
Further reports from the Tower stated that the two princes were seen playing inside the
grounds of the Tower after Richard joined his brother Edward, however no sightings of
the pair were recorded after summer 1484.
It was believed that an attempt to rescue the boys from the Tower was launched but this
failed, but the pair did disappear.
This wasn’t just two ordinary boys, it was the boy who should have been King and his
brother.
Edward V may have had a long reign on the throne, and the Wars of the Roses could have
changed the course of history with him on the throne, but most historian’s consider
that the boys were both murdered.
There isn’t much evidence that points towards the fact the boys were murdered, however rumours
quickly spread soon after they disappeared.
The only documented account of the boys at the Tower was from the Italian Friar, but
later accounts written pointed towards a very disturbing event occurring inside the prisons
walls.
On the 17th July 1674 workmen who were remodelling the white Tower, the oldest part of the Tower
of London came across a wooden box which contained the remains of two small humans.
These bones were found 10 feet below a staircase which led to the chapel inside the White Tower.
The remains were found in an old chamber that had previously been walled up, and many people
believed that these were the Princes in the Tower.
This was a well known event even over 350 years ago, and the King at the time Charles
II put 2 and 2 together, and interred the two children Skeltons inside of Westminster
abbey and he had them at rest in a monument that reads, ‘"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.”
The bones were later examined in 1933 and the doctor confirmed they were of two children,
around the correct ages of the princes when they disappeared.
There were also rusty nails inside the box, and other animal bones.
Many of the bones were broken by the workmen by accident, but no DNA analysis had ever
been attempted on the bodies.
Shortly after the disappearance, fingers pointed towards Sir James Tyrrell, being the man who
murdered the two princes.
It was believed he was a loyal servant of Richard III and that he was ordered to murder
the two boys.
Tyrrell was later executed in 1502, and it was claimed that he had smothered the pair
in their sleep upon the orders of Richard III.
It was then claimed during the Tudor times that they were buried ‘at the stairs foot,
meters deep in the ground under a great heap of stones,’ which is interesting consider
the discovery of the remains a century later.
The biggest suspect in the killings is Richard III who had the most to gain from the disappearance
of the boys.
Whilst the pair were alive they could have served as a threat to Richard’s throne,
and many could have considered the boys as legitimate and rebelled against Richard III.
By having the boys killed, Richard would have eliminated the threat, and he could have ruled
relatively unchallenged, despite being considered a usurper.
It’s believed that when the princes disappeared, Richard was on progress away from the Tower,
and that he may not have killed them with his own hands, but he would have ordered the
killings.
By having someone else get their hands dirty, this would also exonerate Richard further.
Elizabeth Woodville, the mother of the boys would also later support Henry Tudor in his
campaign against Richard III, which would point to the fact she had learned her boys
had been killed by Richard their uncle.
There were other suspects involved in the disappearance including Henry Tudor and also
Henry Stafford the 2nd Duke of Buckingham who is considered the right hand man of Richard
III.
But today it is considered one of the greatest mysteries in English History, and it helped
to communicate the Tower of London’s reputation as a brutal place of murder and killing.
Later pretenders would claim to be the Duke of York, however this was never proven and
during the Tudor period these were put down.
But there are so many questions that are unanswered about the Princes in the Tower.
Are the bones inside of Westminster Abbey the princes?
Who is responsible for their disappearance?
These questions may remain unanswered for centuries to come.
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