School News

“Who is responsible for the death of the Princes in the tower?” This heavily debated question is one of English history’s most disturbingly fascinating riddles that the Year 8 scholars studied in a lecture given by Mr Beattie, a geographer, historian and the author of two books about the topic – a work of non-fiction for adults, Following in the Footsteps of the Princes in the Tower, and a novel for children, The Secret in the Tower.

This tale starts on the 9 of April 1483 at the grave of King Edward IV. His sudden death leaves his 9- and 12-year-old sons under-prepared for the harsh expectations of reigning England, especially given the hungry eyes of their uncle, Richard Plantagenet Duke of Gloucester.

Weeks prior to the 12-year-old Edward’s planned coronation as King Edward V, he and his younger brother were taken to the Tower of London to await the ceremony, as it was a tradition and a safety measure taken for their young age. But Richard Plantagenet had already been scheming to steal the crown in parliament. His supporters argued that the Princes were illegitimate (meaning they were born before their parents were married), which would open the way for Richard to be crowned King. Shortly before his coronation, the Princes were moved to ‘The Bloody Tower’. This is the last time that they were seen.

Mr Beattie presented us with 5 scenarios that analyse their puzzling disappearance:

1. Both Princes die of natural causes
   Reasons to believe: The death rate of children in the 15^th century was incredibly high.
   Reasons to question: It is highly unlikely that both their deaths occurred at the same time.
2. They were ordered to be murdered by Richard III
   Reasons to believe: The Princes were his biggest threat to the throne.
   Reasons to question: It would have been an unspeakable act as they were so young.
3. They were murdered by Henry Stafford, a supporter and senior assistant to Richard III.
   Reasons to believe: Doing so would have gained him Richard III’s favour.
   Reasons to question: Richard III never accused Stafford of this act.
4. They were alive throughout Richard III’s reign but murdered at the end of the War of the Roses by the conquering Henry Tudor, who became King Henry VII in 1485.
   Reasons to believe: Similarly, the Princes were a threat to his throne.
   Reasons to question: Why is there no record of their existence in the two years that passed between their disappearance and Henry Tudor’s accession to the throne?
5. They were given a new identity and exiled by Richard III
   Reasons to believe: there are almost no physical traces of the Princes, leaving exile a possible reason for their disappearance, and it would have been a far more forgivable act than murder if Richard was ever implicated.
   Reasons to question: They most likely would have been recognised.

The mystery deepened in 1674, when the supposed bones of the Princes were discovered under the stairs of the Chapel of the White Tower in the Tower of London and were buried in Westminster Abbey. Experts that examined the bones in the 20^th century were able to confirm their age matched the Princes. However, they were unable to verify the sex of the skeletons.

Additionally, in 2012, Richard III’s bones were found in a carpark in Leicester, a fact supported by a DNA matches with his descendants and the curvature found in the skeleton’s spine.

In 1597, William Shakespeare published his play, The Tragedy of Richard the Third, portraying Richard III as the murderer of the Princes, although many historians consider this an inaccurate source: it was written over a century after the event and Shakespeare would likely have altered the original findings for entertainment purposes.

Ultimately, there simply isn’t the evidence to be certain about what actually happened to the Princes, and the mystery lives on.