It’s a royal mystery that has fascinated historians for centuries: Did the future Richard III murder the ‘Princes in the Tower’ to secure his succession?
Now, Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), which manages the Tower of London, has added to the intrigue by putting up a sign acknowledging the lack of evidence that the princes – Edward V and his younger brother, Richard, Duke of York – were murdered in 1483 on the orders of their uncle Richard.
‘There is no evidence that the princes were murdered,’ the sign states. ‘There is currently no proof that the bones were the remains of the two boys. We may never know what happened.’
The Richard III Society is claiming victory. ‘Society members should be very proud of the impact they are having,’ a spokesman tells me.
An HRP spokesman insists: ‘We have not changed this interpretation at the behest of any particular group.’
Now, Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), which manages the Tower of London, has added to the intrigue by putting up a sign acknowledging the lack of evidence that the princes – Edward V and his younger brother, Richard, Duke of York (both pictured) – were murdered in 1483 on the orders of their uncle Richard
Shakespeare claimed in his play Richard III (pictured) that the all-powerful regent Duke of Gloucester murdered the princes at the Tower of London
Shakespeare claimed in his play Richard III that the all-powerful regent Duke of Gloucester murdered the princes at the Tower of London.
They were 12 and nine when they were taken into custody by their uncle Richard after the sudden death of their father, Edward IV, and vanished soon afterwards.
Speculation over how they died has continued ever since they vanished from the Tower in 1483.
The Church of England, with backing from Queen Elizabeth II and ministers, repeatedly refused to permit forensic testing to see if bones buried in Westminster Abbey were those of the princes.
This would see the bones submitted to carbon dating to match their deaths to Richard III’s reign with DNA tests to prove their identities.
King Charles III, who studied archaeology at Cambridge, is said to support an investigation into how the royal boys died, according to historian Tracy Borman, joint chief curator at HRP.
‘He has said he would like an investigation to go ahead, so that we can determine, once and for all, how the young royals died,’ she said last year.
Richard’s remains were exhumed by excavators from a Leicester car park in 2012.
