What happened to the Princes in the Tower?
Evelyn, Year 8
Who were the Princes in the Tower and what happened to them? These questions, which underpin one of English history’s greatest mysteries, were at the heart of a lecture given to Year 8 Scholars by Mr Beattie, a historian, geographer and author of Following in the Footsteps of the Princes in the Tower and The Secret in the Tower.
Our story starts in 1483, with the death of King Edward IV. Now, a king dying isn’t unusual – after all, they are still human. However, the issue was, the crown was passing to his eldest son, Edward Plantagenet, who was only 12 years old. Obviously, he couldn’t rule medieval England all by himself and his two uncles stepped into the power vacuum to battle for control of the little boy: Edward’s paternal uncle Duke of Gloucester Richard Plantagenet and his maternal uncle the nobleman Anthony Woodville.
Richard Plantagenet won, and Edward and his brother were placed in the Tower of London, a tradition before the coronation. Unfortunately, this coronation never happened. Richard claimed that the boys were “illegitimate”, meaning their parents weren’t married when they were born, and were therefore unworthy to inherit the crown. Richard was crowned as Richard III, and the two boys were never seen again. So where did they go?
We do know the two princes were moved from the Royal Palace in the Tower to “The Bloody Tower”, but we can’t be sure of anything after. But Mr Beattie set out five possible explanations for their fate:
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The boys both died of natural causes, although the probability of this makes it unlikely.
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The princes were murdered on Richard’s command, which would have been an unspeakable act, even back then, especially considering the boys were 9 and 12.
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The princes were murdered but without Richard’s knowledge or involvement, perhaps by one of his key supporters – the biggest suspect being Henry Stafford.
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The boys remained alive throughout Richard III’s reign, but were murdered at the end of the War of the Roses by the victorious Henry Tudor (Henry VII).
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They were given a new identity and exiled, which probably wasn’t the case, as it is likely they would have been recognised.
The bones of the boys were allegedly discovered in 1674 under the stairs of the Chapel of the White Tower, and, since they were assumed to be royal, they were given a proper burial in Westminster Abbey. The bones were scientifically checked in 1933 and they seemed around the right age, but, given the state of the bones, the sex could not be confirmed. However, the older child showed evidence of a disease that deformed the face as he grew older, which could have caused death.
The mystery remains.
