Who Murdered the Princes in the Tower?

535 years ago the English woke to a new King and the start of a new dynasty which would eventually become the most famous in English history. The new King, Henry VII had seized the throne in combat at the Battle of Bosworth the previous day from the ‘usurper’ Richard III. Henry’s justification for challenging Richard’s claim to the throne was that he stole the crown from his nephew and then allegedly had the young King and his brother murdered. The disappearance of the Princes in the Tower sparked the greatest ‘who done it’ and remains a hotly debated mystery to this date.

The accepted narrative has always been that the princes’ were murdered at the order of their uncle the Lord Protector who had them hauled up in the Tower while he declared them illegitimate and seized the throne for himself. The image of Richard III as a treacherous villain with a hunchback has been well established within our psyche. This was largely due to the proactive propaganda machine of the Tudor dynasty which sought to legitimise itself by discrediting Richard III. From altering portraits to incorporate the infamous hunchback to damning portrayals in Shakespeare’s play, Richard III has been the subject a prolonged assault on his character. Throughout history this has been challenged and the discovery of Richard’s remains in a car park in Leicester in 2013 reignited the debate about not only Richard’s character but also the mystery of the Princes in the Tower.

The discovery of Richard’s remains has provided some answers, for example we now know that Richard actually did have a hunchback. However, this obviously does not confirm anything his character, just because he had a hunchback doesn’t mean he had his nephews killed. As such the debate rages on but if it wasn’t Richard who was it? Picture the scene, Henry VII arrives in London after defeating Richard III in the name of the murdered princes. His claim to the throne was entirely based on his victory on the battlefield, a marriage proposal to Elizabeth of York and the ‘fact’ that the rightful heirs to the throne were dead. Upon arriving in London Henry would have secured the most powerful garrison in the city – the Tower of London. Imagine his shock when he discovered hidden within the rooms of the White Tower, Edward V and his younger brother Richard. The Princes in the Tower were alive, what does Henry do next? An honourable man would restore the rightful king but Henry was a Tudor, and this family was more interested in how the actions of Richard III could put them in power rather a campaign of justice against the usurper. Panicking Henry has the princes killed and proceeds to crown himself king and builds a dynasty on the lie that Richard III was the murderer.

This scenario is pure speculation and there is little to no evidence to suggest that Henry VII had the princes killed. However, Henry was not the only suspect; in fact his mother was a definite person of interest. Lady Margaret Beaufort was a 15th century political heavyweight; after Richard took the throne in 1483 she integrated herself into the Queen’s court so she could lobby the crown for son’s return from exile. Simultaneously as rumours of the princes’ murder began to spread she conspired with Elizabeth Woodville (their mother) to have Richard removed and Henry Tudor installed as king who would marry Elizabeth’s daughter to bolster his claim. Beaufort’s willingness to play both sides to further her son’s position and by extension her own power was well documented – Henry relied on her to finance his campaign and build support for his cause while he was exiled. The disappearance of the princes and the rumour that Richard had them murdered definitely expedited Henry’s seizure of the crown. Again this theory is highly speculative, nevertheless Beaufort had the means and the motive, we’ll never know for certain how far she was willing to go to see her son on the throne.

Unfortunately the lack of evidence either way makes ruling out suspects difficult, we are left looking at the behaviours of those in question and speculating about their likely actions. An interesting theory comes about when you look at those closest to the princes – perhaps the princes weren’t murdered and in fact escaped. Elizabeth Woodville, mother of the two princes initially fled Richard to the Sanctuary of Westminster Abbey but then in 1484 at the height of the rumours she left the sanctuary and sent her daughters to court with Richard, would she have done this if she believed Richard had just murdered her sons? Perhaps Richard let them leave to live in isolated exile, this would explain why no bodies could ever be presented to either prove that they were alive or dead. This would also explain why none of the princes closest relatives ever accused Richard of having them killed. In fact Elizabeth of York, the princes’ sister and wife of Henry VII kept a book which belonged to her uncle and even signed her name under way – why would you keep an heirloom from your brothers’ murderer?

Bodies of children similar ages to the Princes have been found in the Tower, whether they belong to Edward and Richard is hard to prove as countless children have died there over the centuries. Evidence doesn’t confirm that they were definitely either – the mystery of the Princes in the Tower is likely to remain just that, a mystery.