What really happened to the 'Princes in the Tower'?

The origin of the mystery around the Princes in the Tower goes back to the 'Wars of the Roses', which was a series of family conflicts that lasted between 1455 and 1487. 

These wars saw the opposing houses of Lancaster and York fighting for control of the English throne. 

The name 'Wars of the Roses' comes from the symbols linked to the two houses: the red rose for Lancaster and the white rose for York. 

The conflict began on May 22, 1455, at the First Battle of St Albans, when the Yorkists, led by Duke of York Richard, clashed with the Lancastrian forces of King Henry VI. 

Over the next thirty years, the crown changed hands many times, with both sides winning and losing. 

By 1461, the Yorkists gained the advantage when Duke of York's eldest son, Edward IV, was declared king after the Battle of Towton.

Edward IV's reign lasted from 1461 to 1483, and it included a short interval between 1470 and 1471 when Henry VI returned to the throne.

His reign ushered in periods of stability and economic recovery, but it also saw serious unrest. Under the surface, court intrigues and rival groups continued to build. 

Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville in 1464 proved controversial. The Woodville family, as former Lancastrian supporters, were viewed with suspicion by many Yorkist nobles.

That marriage produced several children; the oldest was Edward V, born on November 2, 1470. 

When Edward IV died suddenly on April 9, 1483, his 12-year-old son Edward V was set to become king.

His uncle, Duke of Gloucester Richard, was named Lord Protector because Edward was still a child. 

Edward V and Duke of York Richard of Shrewsbury were the sons of King Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth Woodville.

Edward's birth strengthened Edward IV's position and secured the Yorkist line of succession. 

Edward's early years were influenced by the ups and downs of his father's rule during a short period in 1470 and 1471, when the Lancastrians, led by Margaret of Anjou and supported by former King Henry VI, took back the throne.

During this time, Edward and his mother took sanctuary in Westminster Abbey.

Edward IV's final victory at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471 then guaranteed his son's place as heir.

Richard of Shrewsbury was born on August 17, 1473, as the second son of the royal couple.

He held the title of Duke of York, a title long connected with senior members of the Yorkist family.

In 1478, at age four, he was engaged and ceremonially married to Anne de Mowbray, an eight-year-old heiress to the large Mowbray estates.

That marriage further strengthened the Yorkist power base. 

When Edward IV died suddenly, the 12-year-old Edward V was in Ludlow, a stronghold of the Prince of Wales.

As he traveled to London for his upcoming coronation, the political situation changed dramatically.

With the young Edward V set to take the throne, his uncle became a rival. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was Edward IV’s younger brother and a powerful figure in the Yorkist faction.

His initial role was to act as Lord Protector for his nephew, given Edward V’s age.

As Edward V traveled to the capital from Ludlow, Richard joined him and intercepted the young king’s allies at Stony Stratford.

He arrested key Woodville supporters, including Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, and Richard Grey, Edward V’s half-brother.

This action, targeting a family viewed as a threat to the traditional Yorkist establishment, clearly demonstrated his intention to limit their influence.

With Edward V under his control, Richard escorted the young king to the Tower of London, a customary residence for monarchs before their coronation, and soon after, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, joined his brother in the Tower.

With both princes held there, the situation was ready for Richard’s next move. In June 1483, a priest named Dr. Ralph Shaa preached a sermon declaring that Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville had been bigamous, making their children, including Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, illegitimate.

A key point of this claim was that Edward IV had previously been betrothed to Lady Eleanor Butler, which, if true, invalidated his later marriage to Elizabeth.

Scholars debate whether this claim was genuine or fabricated; its implication was unmistakable: Edward V had no legitimate claim to the throne.

Seizing upon this declaration, Richard moved swiftly, and on June 26, an assembly of lords and commoners approved his claim.

By July 6, 1483, Richard was crowned King Richard III at Westminster Abbey. His ascent resulted from a rapid and ruthless takeover that sidelined the rightful heirs and placed the crown firmly upon his head

The last confirmed sighting of the princes occurred in the summer of 1483, while they were at the Tower of London.

At that time, the Tower, with its imposing stone walls and famous White Tower, had existed for almost a thousand years and embodied royal power and authority.

Founded by William the Conqueror in the late eleventh century, it had functioned as a royal residence, treasury, armory, and, most notoriously, as a prison for high-profile captives, and by 1483, this fortress was better known for detaining those who threatened the crown than for housing monarchs before coronation.

Their presence there hinted at sinister possibilities.

Initially, the princes were seen playing within the Tower’s grounds, and their activities attracted the attention of several observers, but as the summer wore on, sightings became increasingly scarce.

By the time Richard III was crowned, the boys had nearly vanished from public view, and rumors about their fate began to circulate: some suggested they were kept in isolation; others claimed they were sent abroad to live in secrecy; the darkest accounts proposed they were murdered on their uncle’s orders.

The latter version gained traction among Richard’s opponents, who pointed to it as evidence of his cruelty.

The Tower's reputation as a place of doom was further cemented in 1674 when a wooden box containing two small skeletons was discovered beneath a staircase during renovations. 

The immediate speculation was that these were the remains of the lost princes, and King Charles II, recognising the find’s significance, ordered the bones to be reinterred in Westminster Abbey. 

Subsequent examinations in the 20th century could not conclusively identify the remains as those of the princes and left the mystery intact.

The most prevalent and controversial theory points the finger at their uncle Richard III. 

Many historians and contemporaries of the era believed that Richard, in his quest for unchallenged power, ordered the murder of the princes. 

Sir Thomas More, whose History of King Richard III was written in the early 16th century, claimed that the boys were smothered to death on Richard’s orders. 

Shakespeare’s portrayal of Richard III further popularised this narrative, painting the king as a malevolent usurper willing to commit fratricide for the throne. 

Concrete evidence linking Richard to the crime is scant, and many argue that political motivations during the Tudor era led to his vilification.

Another theory implicates the once-loyal, later traitorous Duke of Buckingham. 

He had access to the Tower and a motive, and by eliminating the princes, he could strengthen his position and possibly claim the throne himself. 

Definitive proof against Buckingham is lacking, however. 

The Tudor dynasty’s founder Henry VII is also a potential suspect. 

He ascended the throne after Richard III’s death, and by eliminating the princes, he would have solidified his claim and removed Yorkist threats. 

Some speculate that the princes might have been killed after Richard III’s death, during the early years of Henry’s reign.

There are also theories that challenge the notion of murder altogether. 

Some believe the princes were not killed but instead secreted away to a remote location, possibly abroad, where they lived out their days in obscurity. 

This less sinister theory, however, lacked substantial evidence. 

In more recent times, the discovery of Richard III’s remains in a Leicester car park in 2012 reignited interest in the mystery. 

The discovery shed light on Richard’s life and death but did not provide new clues about the princes’ fate.

Their vanishing paved the way for the rise of a new dynasty instead of ending the Yorkist line, and this event influenced the course of English history for over a century. 

With Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury out of the picture, Richard III could solidify his claim to the throne. 

His reign proved short-lived. 

Richard’s rule was filled with unrest as several rebellions challenged his authority. 

The most significant of these was led by the distant Lancastrian claimant Henry Tudor.

The culmination of these tensions occurred at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. 

There, Richard III met his end and the Yorkist dynasty came to a close. 

Henry Tudor emerged victorious, ascending the throne as Henry VII and establishing the Tudor dynasty. 

Initially weak in their claim, the Tudors went on to rule England for 118 years and oversaw a period of immense change, including the English Reformation and establishment of the Church of England. 

Henry VII’s reign focused on efforts to legitimise and strengthen his position. 

One of his first acts was to marry the Princes in the Tower’s elder sister, Elizabeth of York. 

Symbolically merging the warring houses of Lancaster and York, the union represented the emblematic Tudor Rose combining the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster. 

The marriage served as a statement of unity and a promise of a more stable future rather than a mere political manoeuvre.

The spectre of the Princes in the Tower, however, did not fade away. 

Pretenders claiming to be one of the lost princes or representing their cause emerged to challenge the Tudor claim throughout the era. 

The most notable of these was Perkin Warbeck, who in the 1490s claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury. 

These challenges were eventually quelled but underscored the lasting impact of the princes’ disappearance on the English monarchy.