succession by reason of his father's attainder in 1478, Richard knew that such decrees could be overturned by parliament. The boy's claim to the throne was technically stronger than his if push came to shove so to avoid possible embarrassment, Richard had the child put into the custody of his wife Anne, where he was kept neatly out of sight.
‘Now, time to take stock. All direct heirs to the throne were in his power; execution warrants were on their way north, Hastings was no more, the Council was terrified and likely to do exactly what it was told and, troops of northerners would soon be arriving. So far, so good, except the coronation date - June twenty-second - days away now, and the city was rapidly filling with people intent upon attending the coronation and the opening of Parliament. It was time to act.
‘On the seventeenth of June, Richard cancelled the Parliament scheduled for after the coronation and then cancelled the coronation altogether, or rather postponed it indefinitely which is practically the same thing. Between the news of the cancellations and the fact that northern troops were not far away, London exploded with rumour and speculation.
‘June twenty-second - Edward's coronation day - but instead Richard had Dr. Ralph Shaa, the brother of the Mayor of London, read a proclamation which basically stated that, since the late King Edward the Fourth was a bastard, conceived in adultery, his sons were unfit to claim the throne. Dr. Shaa went on to suggest that since Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Protector of the Realm was “the undoubted son” of York, his claim to the throne was legitimate and, in the best interest of England.’
‘Oh boy,’ Gail said, shaking her head. I hope Richard's mother didn't hear that.’
‘She heard, all right. She was in London for the coronation of her grandson after all. To say that she was furious with Richard would be putting it mildly. According to Vergil she being falsely accused of adultery, complained afterwards in sundry places to right many noble men, whereof some yet live, of that great injury which her son Richard had done her.
‘This was a pretty disgusting trick on Richard's part. It shows you the extent of his ambition in that he was willing to publicly slander his own mother to obtain the crown. To add insult to injury, the Duchess of York was famed for her piety and had actually become a Benedictine nun. She may well have contacted her youngest son and made her displeasure known, because Richard quickly abandoned that tack for another.
‘Basically, Richard put forward the notion that his brother Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Wydville was invalid, since Edward had pre-contracted a marriage with a Lady Eleanor Butler prior to Elizabeth coming on the scene. Such a promise of marriage was considered binding on both parties and if true, Edward's subsequent marriage would indeed be considered invalid and the issue of such a marriage would be considered bastards. Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells apparently broke this news to Richard at a very opportune moment and, naturally, Richard ran with it, although there appears to be absolutely no truth to the story. Certainly such an important issue should have been considered before a suitably constituted ecclesiastical court. Richard didn’t order such a court, probably because he knew that there was insufficient proof. The Lady Butler had conveniently died years before so Stillington remained the only source of the story and most people chose not to believe him, suspecting his motives.
‘It soon became apparent to Richard that the pre-contract story would not, of itself, do the trick so he drove the nail deeper. On the twenty-third of June, the Duke of Buckingham addressed the Mayor, aldermen and chief citizens of London on Richard's behalf. Buckingham's strategy was multi-faceted. He started out by attacking Edward the Fourth's government and the major role played by the upstart Wydvilles He then went on to suggest that, not only was Edward's marriage invalid, based on the knowledge of a pre-contract with the Lady Butler, but his subsequent marriage to Elizabeth Wydville was itself invalid on three counts.
‘First of all, the King had been bewitched, seduced into marriage without the consent of the lords of the realm. Secondly, the marriage took place in secret without the banns being proclaimed as required and thirdly, the ceremony took place in a private chamber, not in the Church. No doubt Buckingham threw in Elizabeth's low degree of birth, too. Based on all this, he stated, the King and Elizabeth Wydville had lived in sin and adultery against all the laws of the Kingdom and the Church and therefore the children of such a relationship must be declared bastards and barred from any claim to the throne.
‘Reminding the commons that George, Duke of Clarence's attainder precluded his son from any claim, Buckingham concluded that at the present time no certain and incorrupt blood of the lineage of Richard, Duke of York was to be found, except in the person of Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Pressing the point, Buckingham went on to describe Richard's history of good government in the north, his blameless morals, which I might add, seemed to be a sticking point with Richard. It’s all reminiscent of modern politics in a way, isn’t it? Having delivered his speech, Buckingham withdrew and left them to ponder the situation.
‘All the talk in the world mattered little when the Council reviewed the situation. Fear and self-preservation were first and foremost in their minds. Coupled with the knowledge that a government ruled by a child would be a disaster, many opted for Richard in the hope at least that he would provide the strong, central government everyone wanted so desperately. The Council voted unanimously to offer the crown to Richard, declaring the throne majestic vacant and Richard’s for the taking which, technically speaking, throws the concept of usurpation out the window.’ Laura shrugged. ‘If anything, it was more a coup d'état.
‘On the twenty-sixth of June all the lords gathered at Baynard Castle and formally offered the crown to Richard who, after feigning some initial reluctance, agreed. By way of a postscript, the day before Richard was publicly declared king, Rivers, Grey, Haute and Vaughan were beheaded at Pontefract.’
Gail groaned. She watched abstractly as Laura packed her notes away then suddenly realised what she was doing. ‘You can't stop now; what about the two boys - the Princes in the Tower?’
‘That’s a topic I’m easing into very carefully.’ She finished the last of her coffee then lit a cigarette, leaned back and regarded Gail evenly. ‘It’s difficult to talk about the princes since it’s not one hundred percent certain that the two skeletons found in 1674 are the remains of Edward and Richard, although the evidence is pretty conclusive.’
Gail reeled back in her seat and stared at Laura in open surprise. ‘What skeletons?’
Laura smiled. ‘In 1674, two skeletons were found in a very unlikely place. The Chapel of St. John the Evangelist in the White Tower was, at one time, connected to the royal apartments by an external tower. By 1674, this building was in such a shocking state that King Charles the Second decided to remove it. The foundations of the tower, estimated to be about twenty feet square, went very deep. It was during excavations, at a depth of ten feet, that a wooden wardrobe chest was discovered. Inside were found the skeletons of two small individuals - children. It was said that the taller of the two skeletons lay on its back while the smaller one lay face down on top. It was immediately assumed that they were the remains of Edward the Fifth and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York. What better place to bury them in secret then beneath stairs meant for the private use of royalty?
‘Fragments of velvet were found with the bones which strongly suggests that the remains were indeed the children of King Edward the Fourth since only individuals of such high rank were allowed to wear velvet under the restrictive laws of the land, plus velvet was imported then and very expensive. Between say 1400 and 1674, there were no prisoners unaccounted for in the Tower other than the two princes, so it’s reasonably safe to assume that these two small, slender skeletons were the remains of Edward the Fifth and his brother, Richard.’
Laura paused then and looked directly at Gail. ‘Not much fun, is it, when you’re dealing with children? Hastings and all the rest, adult games played by the nobility, one against the other, like a chess match. I very much doubt if the common people of England could have cared less if men like Rivers, Hastings, et cetera were weeded out now and again, but the murder of innocent children, that’s quite another matter.