have intended from the first to imprison and do away with them so that he could have the throne for himself. Or he may have taken them into his care for their own safety.
Whatever his motive, Richard arranged for the young king to be escorted to Stony Stratford, where he took personal charge of the two boys. The road from Northampton to Stony Stratford was lined with soldiers. From Stony Stratford he accompanied them to London and lodged them in the Tower. This is often seen as a sinister move, indicating Richard’s malevolent intention, but the Tower was as much a royal residence as a prison, and it may have been chosen as the safest place to house the boys at a time of political uncertainty. At the same time, Richard took the precaution of arresting Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who was the young king’s guardian, and imprisoning him at Pontefract Castle for plotting to kill the young king.
Richard declared himself Lord Protector and Chief Councillor. As the senior member of the Yorkist family it was natural that he should act as regent to the young king during his minority, so even that declaration need not be interpreted as sinister. Then Richard took an extraordinary step. At a meeting of the Royal Council in the Tower on 13 June 1483, Lord Hastings was arrested for treason. He was known anti-Ricardian. A few minutes later, he was executed by beheading outside. Three other alleged conspirators, Lord Rivers, Richard Grey and Sir Thomas Vaughan, where executed elsewhere.
After removing all possible opposition at court, Richard had a statement read out, declaring that he was the rightful king, that his brother the late King Edward IV had been illegitimate and that therefore the two princes must be excluded from the line of succession. The declaration was startling for many reasons; Richard was not just barring his nephew from the line of succession, but denouncing his elder brother as illegitimate as well – the brother he had served with unswerving loyalty.
A few days afterwards some evidence was produced, probably by Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, to show that Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville had been bigamous, and therefore all their children were bastards anyway. The bishop’s information was a bombshell. It was all too believable that Edward IV was a bigamist. He was a great womanizer, like his father, and he later conducted a high-profile affair with Jane Shore. Stillington alleged that Edward had been secretly married to Lady Eleanor Talbot in 1461, and since Lady Eleanor was still alive when Edward married Elizabeth Woodville in 1464 that second marriage, to the mother of the two princes, was bigamous and invalid. Lady Eleanor withdrew to die in a convent in 1468.
Stillington’s breathtaking allegation helped Richard III, but it was to get him into serious trouble two years later when Henry VII came to the throne. Henry needed to reverse the charge of bigamy because it made his own wife, Elizabeth of York, illegitimate and therefore weakened his own claim to the throne. Stillington found himself imprisoned for embarrassing the unexpected new Tudor king and queen in 1485. Not surprisingly, he espoused the cause of Lambert Simnel in 1487, but when that failed he found himself accused of high treason. Most surprisingly of all, Stillington died a natural death at Windsor in 1491.
If Edward’s two sons were illegitimate, as Bishop Stillington’s evidence showed, they could have no right to the throne. The children of George, Duke of Clarence, Richard’s older brother, had lost their right to a place in the line of succession on account of their father’s treason. That left Richard himself as the clear heir. He was crowned King Richard III at Westminster Abbey on 6 July 1483.
The two princes were seen a few more times in the Tower shortly after that, then never again. According to the Great Chronicle of London, the boys were seen several times in the summer of 1483,
Whatever his motive, Richard arranged for the young king to be escorted to Stony Stratford, where he took personal charge of the two boys. The road from Northampton to Stony Stratford was lined with soldiers. From Stony Stratford he accompanied them to London and lodged them in the Tower. This is often seen as a sinister move, indicating Richard’s malevolent intention, but the Tower was as much a royal residence as a prison, and it may have been chosen as the safest place to house the boys at a time of political uncertainty. At the same time, Richard took the precaution of arresting Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who was the young king’s guardian, and imprisoning him at Pontefract Castle for plotting to kill the young king.
Richard declared himself Lord Protector and Chief Councillor. As the senior member of the Yorkist family it was natural that he should act as regent to the young king during his minority, so even that declaration need not be interpreted as sinister. Then Richard took an extraordinary step. At a meeting of the Royal Council in the Tower on 13 June 1483, Lord Hastings was arrested for treason. He was known anti-Ricardian. A few minutes later, he was executed by beheading outside. Three other alleged conspirators, Lord Rivers, Richard Grey and Sir Thomas Vaughan, where executed elsewhere.
After removing all possible opposition at court, Richard had a statement read out, declaring that he was the rightful king, that his brother the late King Edward IV had been illegitimate and that therefore the two princes must be excluded from the line of succession. The declaration was startling for many reasons; Richard was not just barring his nephew from the line of succession, but denouncing his elder brother as illegitimate as well – the brother he had served with unswerving loyalty.
A few days afterwards some evidence was produced, probably by Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, to show that Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville had been bigamous, and therefore all their children were bastards anyway. The bishop’s information was a bombshell. It was all too believable that Edward IV was a bigamist. He was a great womanizer, like his father, and he later conducted a high-profile affair with Jane Shore. Stillington alleged that Edward had been secretly married to Lady Eleanor Talbot in 1461, and since Lady Eleanor was still alive when Edward married Elizabeth Woodville in 1464 that second marriage, to the mother of the two princes, was bigamous and invalid. Lady Eleanor withdrew to die in a convent in 1468.
Stillington’s breathtaking allegation helped Richard III, but it was to get him into serious trouble two years later when Henry VII came to the throne. Henry needed to reverse the charge of bigamy because it made his own wife, Elizabeth of York, illegitimate and therefore weakened his own claim to the throne. Stillington found himself imprisoned for embarrassing the unexpected new Tudor king and queen in 1485. Not surprisingly, he espoused the cause of Lambert Simnel in 1487, but when that failed he found himself accused of high treason. Most surprisingly of all, Stillington died a natural death at Windsor in 1491.
If Edward’s two sons were illegitimate, as Bishop Stillington’s evidence showed, they could have no right to the throne. The children of George, Duke of Clarence, Richard’s older brother, had lost their right to a place in the line of succession on account of their father’s treason. That left Richard himself as the clear heir. He was crowned King Richard III at Westminster Abbey on 6 July 1483.
The two princes were seen a few more times in the Tower shortly after that, then never again. According to the Great Chronicle of London, the boys were seen several times in the summer of 1483,
Similar Books
![[Phantom Warriors 01] Bacchus](https://fs.collectorofbookboyfriends.com/480275/thumbs/152x264/phantom-warriors-01-bacchus.jpg)
