The Mysterious Disappearance of Edward V: A Royal Enigma

Who Was Edward V?

Edward V of England is one of the most tragic and mysterious figures in British royal history. Born on November 2, 1470, in Westminster Abbey, he was the elder son of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort of the House of York. His birth came during a time of great turbulence, the Wars of the Roses, a dynastic struggle between the rival houses of York and Lancaster for control of the English throne.

Edward was not born in a palace or even in a secure city. His mother had taken refuge in Westminster Abbey’s sanctuary when her husband, Edward IV, had been temporarily deposed by the Earl of Warwick and the Lancastrians. Thus, the boy who was destined to be king was born in hiding, an ominous sign of the instability that would follow him throughout his short life.

Edward was styled Prince of Wales in June 1471 and raised with all the grandeur and education befitting a future monarch. By all accounts, he was intelligent, well-mannered, and precocious. He was tutored by the likes of the scholar John Alcock, and documents suggest he was adept in Latin, well-read, and developing a strong moral compass.

What Was Edward V Famous For?

Edward V is famous not so much for his actions, but for what happened to him, and what might have been. He was never crowned king, yet he is officially listed as the 12th King of England from the House of Plantagenet, albeit for only 78 days. His reign began on April 9, 1483, following the sudden death of his father, Edward IV.

At just 12 years old, Edward V was far too young to rule in his own right. His father’s will reportedly named his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, as Lord Protector until Edward reached maturity. This decision would ultimately be the catalyst for one of the greatest royal mysteries in history.

Edward’s fame lies in his abrupt disappearance, his uncrowned reign, and the political intrigues surrounding his family during a perilous chapter of England’s monarchy. Alongside his younger brother, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, he became one of the infamous “Princes in the Tower”, two royal boys whose fate remains unknown and hotly debated to this day.

The Road to the Tower

After Edward IV’s death, Elizabeth Woodville attempted to assert her own influence by moving quickly to secure her son’s position. Edward V was staying in Ludlow Castle, where he had been living as Prince of Wales. His maternal relatives, the Woodvilles, were powerful and deeply resented by the old nobility.

When the Duke of Gloucester, Richard, was notified of the king’s death, he began moving south to London to meet his nephew. Simultaneously, Edward V was escorted from Ludlow by his half-brother Anthony Woodville, the Earl Rivers. They planned to bring the young king to London for his coronation.

But Richard intercepted them en route at Stony Stratford. In a swift and bold move, he arrested Rivers, Richard Grey (Edward V’s half-brother from Elizabeth’s first marriage), and others, accusing them of plotting to seize power. Edward V was taken into Richard’s custody and brought to London, where he was initially lodged at the Bishop’s Palace at St. Paul’s, before being moved to the Tower of London.

At the time, the Tower was not just a prison, it was also a royal residence and the traditional lodging place for monarchs before their coronation. What seemed like a standard royal practice at first would soon take a far darker turn.

The Usurpation by Richard III

Initially, preparations were underway for Edward V’s coronation. The date was set for June 22, 1483. But suddenly, the political climate changed drastically.

On June 25, a clergyman named Dr. Ralph Shaa delivered a sermon at St. Paul’s Cross declaring that Edward V and his brother were illegitimate. The argument presented was that Edward IV had been pre-contracted to marry a noblewoman named Eleanor Butler before he wed Elizabeth Woodville. According to medieval canon law, this earlier engagement, if consummated, would render the later marriage invalid, and the children born of it bastards.

The claim was politically convenient and legally murky. No concrete evidence of this pre-contract survives, and many historians believe it was fabricated by Richard to bolster his claim. Regardless, within days of the sermon, a group of nobles and citizens declared their support for Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to be the rightful king. He ascended the throne as Richard III on July 6, 1483.

What Happened to Edward V and His Brother?

After Richard III took the throne, the two princes were rarely seen again. The last widely accepted public sighting of Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, was in the summer of 1483. They were seen occasionally playing within the inner grounds of the Tower of London, but by the autumn, all public accounts of them ceased.

Rumors abounded. Some said they had been murdered on Richard III’s orders, others claimed they had died of illness or escaped. The most enduring and widely accepted theory is that they were murdered secretly, likely during the late summer or early autumn of 1483.

One of the most influential accounts comes from Sir Thomas More, writing in the early 16th century. He claimed that the boys were smothered with pillows in their sleep by two agents, James Tyrrell and John Dighton, under orders from Richard III. However, More was writing during the reign of the Tudors, Richard’s enemies, and his work has long been considered as politically motivated and not entirely reliable.

Another theory implicates Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, Richard’s erstwhile ally turned rival. Some speculate Buckingham had his own aspirations or saw the boys as a threat to Richard’s rule. Yet another theory holds that Henry VII (then Henry Tudor), who defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, had them killed to secure his own claim to the throne.

Despite centuries of speculation, no definitive proof has ever surfaced.

Were Edward V and His Brother Really Illegitimate?

The legitimacy of Edward V and his brother was questioned solely based on the pre-contract claim. According to Richard III’s declaration, known as Titulus Regius, Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid due to his earlier betrothal to Lady Eleanor Butler.

This law, passed by Parliament in 1484, effectively stripped Edward V and his siblings of their royal titles, making them illegitimate and clearing the way for Richard to take the throne.

However, this assertion was politically expedient and poorly substantiated. After Richard’s death, when Henry VII (Henry Tudor) became king, he repealed Titulus Regius and ordered all copies destroyed. Henry had married Elizabeth of York, Edward V’s sister, to unify the warring houses of Lancaster and York. Recognizing her legitimacy was crucial to validating his reign and establishing the Tudor dynasty.

Modern historians generally view the illegitimacy claim as a legal fiction, constructed to justify Richard’s usurpation rather than a reflection of true genealogical or marital impropriety. No independent evidence confirms Edward IV’s supposed pre-contract with Eleanor Butler, who was conveniently dead by the time the claim was made.

Discovery of the Bones

In 1674, during renovations of the White Tower at the Tower of London, workmen uncovered a wooden chest beneath a staircase. Inside were the skeletal remains of two children, buried together. King Charles II ordered the bones to be interred in Westminster Abbey, where they remain today in an urn inscribed to commemorate the lost princes.

In 1933, the bones were examined but not conclusively identified due to limitations in forensic science at the time. In the modern era, there have been calls for DNA testing to determine whether the remains belong to Edward V and his brother, but the Church of England has thus far denied exhumation, citing respect for the dead.

The Legacy of Edward V

Despite his brief and uncrowned reign, Edward V left a significant imprint on English history. He symbolizes lost innocence, dynastic betrayal, and the deadly stakes of royal politics. His disappearance helped solidify the image of Richard III as a ruthless usurper, an image famously cemented by Shakespeare’s villainous portrayal of him.

Modern historians, however, have debated Richard’s role. Some argue that he may have had nothing to gain by murdering the princes, especially if their deaths stirred public unrest, as it reportedly did. Others contend the murder was necessary to prevent rebellion and solidify his rule. But whether Richard killed the boys or not, his failure to produce them alive or convincingly explain their absence undermined his legitimacy.

In Edward V, we see a young king who was denied the crown, a child who became the pawn of ambitious men, and whose fate ignited one of the greatest mysteries in English history.

His story is a sobering reminder of the fragility of power and the human cost of political ambition. He never ruled in earnest, never spoke as king, and never left a mark through action, but through his absence, he left a void that has fascinated historians and readers for over five centuries. image/artuk