Emily Chan
Richard had Edward V’s maternal uncle, Anthony Woodville, half-brother Richard Grey, and their companion, Thomas Vaughn, arrested because he feared they would try to overthrow him.
A couple of months later, he had them executed. By mid-May, Richard had transferred Edward V to the Tower of London to keep him safe.
This made sense because the War of Roses was going on. In addition, Edward V’s coronation was in progress, and it was tradition for soon-to-be kings to stay in the tower before the ceremony.
In the middle of June, Richard relocated Edward V’s younger brother from Westminster Abbey with his mother to the Tower of London.
That same month, Parliament declared that Edward IV’s children weren’t legitimate heirs because he was supposed to have married Lady Eleanor Butler instead of Elizabeth Woodville. Shortly after, Richard took the throne and became King Richard III.
During his reign, Richard had Baron William Hastings executed. Hastings was a close friend of Edward IV and had even helped Richard gain the title of Lord Protector.
After Hastings’ death, the servants who tended to Edward V were banned from seeing him. Edward V and his brother could once be observed playing outside in the garden at the Tower of London.
But as the days went on, they became increasingly secluded within the walls of the fortress. Eventually, they stopped making appearances altogether.
The most obvious explanation for the disappearance of the princes is that Richard III had them murdered so they could never be a threat to him.
Another theory is that Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham and a former ally of Richard III, assassinated the two princes so they wouldn’t threaten his attempt to replace the king with Henry Tudor.
Henry Tudor is also considered a suspect. After Richard III died, he became King Henry VII. He married Elizabeth of York, the two princes’ older sister, ending the War of Roses.
