Uploaded September 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
The fate of the Princes in the Tower is arguably the BIGGEST ROYAL MYSTERY ever, at least in England and one of the real low points in the Wars of the Roses, but we have never been able to ascertain with any certainty what happened to Edward V and Richard, Duke of York. The children of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, they were last seen at the Tower of London in the summer of 1483, where they had been imprisoned by their paternal uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who soon afterwards declared them illegitimate and took the throne as Richard III. In 1674 the bones of two children were found in a staircase in the White Tower which were widely assumed to be the princes, who were aged 12 and 9 when they disappeared. These were placed in an urn and interred at Westminster Abbey and have not been examined since the 1930s. At that point, science was not sufficiently advanced to establish if the skeletal remains were Edward and Richard. Nowadays though, there is great interest in using modern science to solve historical mysteries and since the discovery of the bones of Richard III in 2012, there have been fresh calls to re-examine the bones in the urn to see if DNA can identify them as the remains of the Princes in the Tower. Is it really that simple, though? Could the bones actually be used to establish the identity of their owners, or are they too badly degraded? Is it even possible to get permission to examine them? Queen Elizabeth II always refused any attempts to have the bones studied. However, her son King Charles III, has reportedly expressed an interest in having an investigation carried out. In this video from History Calling we discuss the likelihood that the bones will be disinterred and examined, look at the limitations of what DNA and carbon dating can offer us and think about what the consequences would be if we were able to prove that the bones were those of the young King and his little brother. For one thing, what would that mean for those who accuse Richard of having had them killed and conversely for those who accuse Henry VII and his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort of having had a hand in it?
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
WHAT HAPPENED TO EDWARD V AND RICHARD DUKE OF YORK?
youtu.be/WQ6FIe4dLTo
THE WARS OF THE ROSES PLAYLIST youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0EVv2DJZOZT5ZyQwSJ4o7oZ
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE RUSSIAN ROYAL FAMILY?
youtu.be/EsHr13d14XU
JACQUETTA OF LUXEMBOURG
youtu.be/6S9IlEW4w8U
WAS EDWARD IV ILLEGITIMATE?
youtu.be/Z4GzFxMNVV4
LIFE OF CECILY NEVILLE, PART 1
youtu.be/2yRxDJKronM
LIFE OF CECILY NEVILLE, PART 2
youtu.be/V0-mbw4MyRs
GEAR USED
Apple MacBook Pro Laptop (for video editing): amzn.to/3S6IoRK
DJI Drone: amzn.to/39hROZm
Go-Pro Hero 10 camera: amzn.to/3rTWScL
GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): amzn.to/3vaVxjU
Memory Card: amzn.to/3KeLZZs
Microphone: amzn.to/3rYtjH8
LEARN MORE:
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Prime video or Audible trial. They are available from the following links:
PRIME VIDEO
amzn.to/3LW7ykg
AUDIBLE
amzn.to/44MvlMi
AUDIBLE PLUS & AUDIBLE PREMIUM PLUS
amzn.to/42rh3PF
BUY OR RENT
The King in the Carpark (2013). Documentary about the discovery of Richard III’s skeleton in 2012. amzn.to/3C0loMF (UK LINK)
Britain’s Bloody Crown Presented by Dan Jones (2016) [Documentary covering the Wars of the Roses. Historically accurate] amzn.to/2TPep8i
The White Queen (2013). amzn.to/2VcbQO5
The White Princess (2018). amzn.to/3C1NLdl
READ MORE:
John Ashdown-Hill, The Mythology of the Princes in the Tower (Amberley, 2018). amzn.to/3BhARGF (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/2XQn3Fr (US LINK)
Tim Thornton, ‘More on a murder: the deaths of the “Princes in the Tower”, and historiographical implications for the regimes of Henry VII and Henry VIII’ in History: the Journal of the Historical Association (2020), pp 4-25.
THUMBNAIL: Wikimedia Commons, public domain (detail)
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
The fate of the Princes in the Tower is arguably the BIGGEST ROYAL MYSTERY ever, at least in England and one of the real low points in the Wars of the Roses, but we have never been able to ascertain with any certainty what happened to Edward V and Richard, Duke of York. The children of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, they were last seen at the Tower of London in the summer of 1483, where they had been imprisoned by their paternal uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who soon afterwards declared them illegitimate and took the throne as Richard III. In 1674 the bones of two children were found in a staircase in the White Tower which were widely assumed to be the princes, who were aged 12 and 9 when they disappeared. These were placed in an urn and interred at Westminster Abbey and have not been examined since the 1930s. At that point, science was not sufficiently advanced to establish if the skeletal remains were Edward and Richard. Nowadays though, there is great interest in using modern science to solve historical mysteries and since the discovery of the bones of Richard III in 2012, there have been fresh calls to re-examine the bones in the urn to see if DNA can identify them as the remains of the Princes in the Tower. Is it really that simple, though? Could the bones actually be used to establish the identity of their owners, or are they too badly degraded? Is it even possible to get permission to examine them? Queen Elizabeth II always refused any attempts to have the bones studied. However, her son King Charles III, has reportedly expressed an interest in having an investigation carried out. In this video from History Calling we discuss the likelihood that the bones will be disinterred and examined, look at the limitations of what DNA and carbon dating can offer us and think about what the consequences would be if we were able to prove that the bones were those of the young King and his little brother. For one thing, what would that mean for those who accuse Richard of having had them killed and conversely for those who accuse Henry VII and his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort of having had a hand in it?
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
WHAT HAPPENED TO EDWARD V AND RICHARD DUKE OF YORK?
youtu.be/WQ6FIe4dLTo
THE WARS OF THE ROSES PLAYLIST youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLSjVq5Qtb0EVv2DJZOZT5ZyQwSJ4o7oZ
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE RUSSIAN ROYAL FAMILY?
youtu.be/EsHr13d14XU
JACQUETTA OF LUXEMBOURG
youtu.be/6S9IlEW4w8U
WAS EDWARD IV ILLEGITIMATE?
youtu.be/Z4GzFxMNVV4
LIFE OF CECILY NEVILLE, PART 1
youtu.be/2yRxDJKronM
LIFE OF CECILY NEVILLE, PART 2
youtu.be/V0-mbw4MyRs
GEAR USED
Apple MacBook Pro Laptop (for video editing): amzn.to/3S6IoRK
DJI Drone: amzn.to/39hROZm
Go-Pro Hero 10 camera: amzn.to/3rTWScL
GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): amzn.to/3vaVxjU
Memory Card: amzn.to/3KeLZZs
Microphone: amzn.to/3rYtjH8
LEARN MORE:
Want to watch/hear/read more about history (and a whole host of other topics)? Then you might benefit from a free Prime video or Audible trial. They are available from the following links:
PRIME VIDEO
amzn.to/3LW7ykg
AUDIBLE
amzn.to/44MvlMi
AUDIBLE PLUS & AUDIBLE PREMIUM PLUS
amzn.to/42rh3PF
BUY OR RENT
The King in the Carpark (2013). Documentary about the discovery of Richard III’s skeleton in 2012. amzn.to/3C0loMF (UK LINK)
Britain’s Bloody Crown Presented by Dan Jones (2016) [Documentary covering the Wars of the Roses. Historically accurate] amzn.to/2TPep8i
The White Queen (2013). amzn.to/2VcbQO5
The White Princess (2018). amzn.to/3C1NLdl
READ MORE:
John Ashdown-Hill, The Mythology of the Princes in the Tower (Amberley, 2018). amzn.to/3BhARGF (UK LINK) OR amzn.to/2XQn3Fr (US LINK)
Tim Thornton, ‘More on a murder: the deaths of the “Princes in the Tower”, and historiographical implications for the regimes of Henry VII and Henry VIII’ in History: the Journal of the Historical Association (2020), pp 4-25.
THUMBNAIL: Wikimedia Commons, public domain (detail)
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
