"The Princes in the Tower," John Everett Millais, 1878. A rendition of Edward V and his brother, Richard, while they were held in the Tower of London by their uncle, Richard III. (Wikimedia Commons, 2019; Royal Holloway Art Collections).

Editor’s Note: A version of this story was previously posted on the original Hidden Histories website on November 13, 2024 as an assignment for Royal Holloway’s Public History MA.

Key Locations:

📍Westminster Abbey

📍Tower of London

When visiting Westminster Abbey, it is easy to neglect the urn tucked to the side of Henry VII’s Lady Chapel. It is hardly eye-catching in a room brimming with tombs of historical heavy-hitters like Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots. One peek into the shadows, however, shows that its Latin epigraph labels the memorial as that of a king and his brother. Take the internet search a step further than Google Translate, and you would find that this unassuming urn is actually a point of ethical and historical concern, not to mention an inspiration for one of television’s most popular dramas.

The urn supposedly holds the remains of Edward V (1470-1483?) and his brother, Richard (1473-1483?), more popularly known as the “Princes in the Tower,” victims of one of the most famous murder mysteries in history. These events transpired during the conflict known as the Wars of the Roses, the period that inspired the wildly successful Game of Thrones franchise. The dominant theory about their disappearance claims the brothers were murdered in the Tower of London. After two skeletons were found in the White Tower in 1674, they were assumed to be the princes and were quickly placed in the marble urn, which was opened in 1933 to confirm the bones were those of two young children. This was an acceptable conclusion barely a century ago, but modern technology has sparked new debates around this historical cold case. The sticking point? DNA analysis.

History 🤝Science

DNA analysis has helped to solve many historical mysteries in recent years, let alone those pertaining to the Wars of the Roses. Researchers confirmed the bones of Richard III—a prime suspect in the murder of the princes—were his through comparing mitochondrial DNA of the remains against living relatives. While testing the bones in the urn seems like a simple solution, it raises the question of where the line for scholarship lies.

Elizabeth II supposedly argued against testing the bones, preferring not to set a precedent of exhuming the dead—let alone the royal dead—for study. Others argued in favor of analysis to discern the true fate of the princes, which has remained unresolved for the past 500 years. Charles III is reportedly more open to the idea, but no headway has been made. While this leaves researchers and officials in a scientific stalemate, important questions about the princes can still be answered. What of the King in the Tower, Edward V? How can a better understanding of the boy king impact these ongoing debates?

The Golden Boy of York

**The White Tower, where the bones of two children were found in 1674. Edward V and his brother were held at the Tower of London and were never seen outside its walls again. (Personal photo, 2024)**

The Wars of the Roses was just as dramatic in history as it is in fiction. Edward V’s life is among the most abnormal of his era. In a time of intense political turmoil, he had the unusual experience of growing up unchallenged as heir to the throne. After Henry VI died in 1471, the perceived Lancastrian threat ending with him, Edward became an invaluable piece in the political chess game. He was a son to whom his father, Edward IV, could smoothly pass the throne. It was a phenomenon that had not occurred in over 50 years! Many, including Edward’s own mother, Elizabeth Woodville, tried to capitalize on this; Thomas More observed that Elizabeth strategized so that “her blood might from the beginning be rooted in the Prince’s favor” in anticipation of his reign. Edward grew up sheltered from the effects of this political fight, surrounded instead by people who reinforced his role as future King of England. His adolescence was spent not in London, but in Wales, holding court at Ludlow Castle under the guidance of his maternal uncle, Anthony Woodville.

It must have come as a shock, then, when Edward was intercepted on the road to London in 1483 to claim the birthright that had become integral to his identity. The future Richard III and the Duke of Buckingham arrested their adversary, Woodville, and took custody of the young king. Edward supposedly protested; it was, after all, the man who raised him that was being apprehended by an uncle he barely knew. The confusion he must have felt followed him to London, where he would have discovered that his immediate family had already taken sanctuary in Westminster Abbey.

Edward, who was raised to one day inherit absolute power, had swiftly become absolutely powerless.

During the next two months he spent confined with his brother in the Tower, Edward’s identity was slowly stripped away: he was declared a bastard, the man who raised him was executed, and his other uncle was crowned king in his place. All the while, Edward was completely cut off from contact with his mother and sisters. This reality must have wreaked mental and emotional turmoil on an adolescent, let alone an adolescent king, and makes Edward V a figure worthy of reconsideration.

Game of Bones

An increased focus on Edward’s individual story, as opposed to the joint tale of the "Princes" in the Tower, could be a major influence in the bone-testing debate. His life has the makings of a modern true-crime documentary: at 12 years old he was abducted and robbed by his uncle, never to be seen alive again. It is a story that would top Netflix charts and make Edward an international household name, yet in many evaluations of Edward’s life, the experience of the pre-teen king has instead been overshadowed by the strife between Richard III, the Woodville clan and the mounting Tudor opposition to the Yorkist monarchy. These tensions have inspired both past and present pop-culture greats, most notably Shakespeare’s Richard III and Philippa Gregory’s The White Queen and The White Princess. Could this spotlight be why Richard III’s bones were tested and not those in the urn?

While Edward and Richard are known as the Princes in the Tower, Edward was still a king, albeit one of three English monarchs to have never been crowned. His life should be considered from such an angle. Should they truly be his bones in that urn, the irony of their placement cannot go unnoticed: they would forever rest next to two of the most popular female monarchs that would have never touched the throne had he survived. Would the decision to know for certain, to resolve this murder mystery once and for all, be swayed one way or another if it were framed as a King of England’s bones that lay in question, rather than a prince’s? The unassuming urn surely deserves a second glance from tourists and academics alike.

Testing the Theory? The Princes in the Tower and the DNA Analysis Debate

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