The princes in the Tower

Edward IV died in 1483, aged only forty-one. His two sons were twelve and nine years old. The elder of them was now King Edward V, but he was too young to rule. His uncle Richard, duke of Gloucester, became 'Protector', to govern England until the boy-king grew up.

In less than three months, the Protector had made himself King Richard III. The two 'princes' (Edward V and his brother) were put in the Tower of London 'to be safe'. Rumours soon spread that they were dead. They were never seen again.

Did Richard III have his nephews killed? No-one really knows. Richard had a good reason to get rid of the princes - each of them had more right to be king than he did. Their own mother was sure that they were dead. And if they were put to death in the Tower, Richard would have known about it.

A revolt against Richard broke out in October 1483. One of the causes was the rumour that the princes had been killed. Richard could have crushed the rumour and the revolt by letting people see the princes, alive and well. He did not. Does this mean that they were dead?

One last fact came to light nearly 200 years later. In 1674, some workmen found the bones of two children in the Tower of London. Experts who examined the bones in 1933 said that they belonged to two boys, aged about twelve and nine.

Walter Robson: Medieval Britain; Oxford University Press, 1991/2000, page 67