According to the British "Daily Mail" report, the mystery of the murder of the "Prince in the Tower" that the British royal family thrilled 539 years ago may be solved. King Charles III supported DNA testing of the remains of two children found under the Tower of London and Windsor Castle to find out if they were Edward V and his brother Prince Richard.
Oil painting "The Prince in the Tower" (1831), now in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
The royal thriller murder is a mysteryThe so-called "Prince of the Tower" refers to the two sons of King Edward IV of England in the 15th century, 12-year-old Edward V and 9-year-old Prince Richard. In April 1483, at the age of 40, Edward IV died unexpectedly, and his younger brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, became the guardian of his nephew Edward V and was in charge of regent.
Shortly after Richard's regency, Edward V and his brother Prince Richard mysteriously disappeared, and legend has it that they were imprisoned in the Tower of London. Originally built in 1087 on the banks of the River Thames, the Tower of London is an iconic British palace that served as a prison for upper-class prisoners.
A Tower of London guard talks to tourists.
Rumor has it that Richard, who coveted the throne, secretly murdered the two brothers of Edward V. The dramatist Shakespeare vividly described Richard's plot to murder his nephew in his classic "Richard III", so this history has been "deeply rooted in the hearts of the people" for a long time. The French academic painter Delaroche also created the famous oil painting "The Prince in the Tower" based on this story, which is now preserved in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Although some historians believe that these historical materials were written by Tudor historians and their authenticity is doubtful, the fate of the brothers has been a mystery due to the lack of evidence.
According to historical records, the Woodville family, Queen of Edward IV at the time, joined other families in a premeditated plot to regain power from Richard. After suppressing this conspiracy, Richard argued that Edward IV had been married to someone else at an early age, so that his marriage to Woodville was "illegal" and that his children could not enjoy the right to the throne. So, at the "supplication" of the samurai and lords, Richard was crowned King of England in July 1483, Richard III.
Oil painting Portrait of Richard III (1520), now in the London Antiquarian Society.
In 1674, nearly 200 years after the "disappearance" of the Edward V brothers, the remains of two children were found under the stairs of the Tower of London, but the state of science at the time could not determine their identity. In the 18th century, the remains of two children were found underground at Windsor Castle. Experts have been hoping for years that the remains can be tested to determine if they are the princes who disappeared. But the remains have been buried in the British Crown's underground chapel, and the late Queen Elizabeth II had opposed it during her lifetime.
Richard III was born in October 1452 and was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485 just two years after ascending the throne, victor Henry Tudor, who became King of England, Henry VII. The end of that battle marked the end of the Plantagenet dynasty in England and the emergence of the Tudors on the stage of history.
The Tower of London guards open the Tower gates.
More than 500 years of mystery have finally been solvedThe burial site of Richard III has remained a mystery for centuries. Previous haters of Richard III believed that his remains had been dumped in the Sol River. Another version in the history books is that the monarch was hastily buried in a church in Leicester after his death. Since the church was closed and demolished by Henry VIII in 1538, the remains of Richard III are unknown.
In February 2009, members of the Richard III Society, represented by historian Philippa Langley, launched a documentary project called "In Search of Richard III" in an attempt to find and rebury the remains of Richard III, for which the University of Leicester Archaeological Service became the archaeological contractor. In 2012, an archaeology team from the University of Leicester determined that a parking lot in the center of Leicester, England, was the site where Richard III was buried in historical records, and the famous Battle of Bosworth took place about 20 miles (1 mile or 1.6 kilometers) from the city of Leicester. Langley raised funds to organize an excavation, and in April 2012 unearthed the remains of a body with a curved spine that may have died on the battlefield.
Exhumation site of remains.
On February 4, 2013, British archaeologists officially announced that a human remains had been found under a parking lot in Leicester, central England, and it was confirmed to be Richard III. The mystery surrounding the king's final burial site has finally been solved. Archaeologists said that when the remains were unearthed, there was a barbed metal arrow inserted between the vertebrae of the upper back, and the back of the skull showed marks of sharp blade cuts, which were consistent with the situation of Richard III recorded in the history books. Archaeologists found that the tomb where Richard III was buried was small and could barely accommodate his body.
The epilogue of Shakespeare's play Richard III describes Richard III, who lost his horse and was desperate, trapped in a deep siege of enemies, shouting "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse", but no one gave him another horse, even if he was willing to give up the whole country. The location of the wound shows that Richard III had lost his horse and helmet when he met the enemy. In this way, the long-standing saying that "a country is lost because of a horseshoe" is quite true.
Appleby, a skeletonist, said there were 10 wounds on the remains, eight in the skull and two on the body, all formed shortly before and after death. Of these, two could have been fatal to the stab wounds to the head, while the others appeared to be "humiliating injuries" he suffered after his death. Appleby said the wounds came from weapons such as swords, daggers and halberds.
These wounds confirm the historical account: after the death of Richard III, Henry VII, who later became king, carried his bloodied naked body from the battlefield to Leicester on a horse to show the public his victory, and finally buried the body in an unmarked grave in a church.
On February 4, 2013, archaeologists announced the results of the test at a press conference.
DNA samples taken from the more than 500-year-old remains by archaeologists at the University of Leicester were compared to those of Michael Ibson, a descendant of Richard III's sister, and another descendant who did not want to be named. It is reported that Michael is a furniture merchant, born in Canada, living in London, and is the 17th generation descendant of Richard III's sister.
Geneticist Turi King said that by comparison, the DNA samples of the remains matched those of two descendants of Richard III's sister. Appleby, a skeletologist, said the skeletal evidence alone was "convincing enough to prove the identity of the remains."
Bone age tests also showed that the remains died between 1455 and 1540, with an age of twenty or thirty, while Richard III was 32 years old when he died in 1485, which is consistent with this inference. In addition, the discovery confirmed that Richard III's arm was twisted, but he did have scoliosis, in line with contemporary speculation about his appearance.
In Shakespeare's writing, Richard III was "born deformed," an evil conspirator, and a usurper tyrant. Since much of Shakespeare's writing material comes from Henry VII's historians, some scholars believe that a large part of the description is unfair and the authenticity is doubtful. Some historians say that Richard III, although he reigned for only two years, showed extraordinary political talent and played an active role in promoting the principle of presumption of innocence in the judicial field, the bail system, etc.
On February 5, 2013, Philippa Langley, the initiator of the "Find Richard" project, officially unveiled a facial restoration model of Richard III.
Is the "missing prince" missing?Philippa Langley also launched a project called The Missing Prince to track down the truth about the Prince in the Tower. However, a review of many medieval documents revealed that there was no conclusive evidence of the murder of the Edward V brothers, but there were many mysterious indications that a secret agreement appeared to have been reached between Woodville and Richard III.
Royal documents show that Woodville made an agreement with Richard III in March 1484 and left Westminster with his daughters for a village in Devon.
The researchers found that there was a church built in 1511 and built by Evans. There is a portrait of Edward V in the window of the church: Edward V in the painting has a crown on his head with 41 fawns, and Edward V was exactly 41 years old that year. There is also a portrait of Evans in the church, very similar to the appearance of Edward V in the glass window. An etching print inside the church with the word "King" written upside down on Evans' tomb. Apparently, many clues point to Evans' royal identity.
Another version is that Henry VII, who became king, murdered the two princes for fear that his brother Edward V would endanger his position, and legalized all the children of Edward IV, recognizing Edward V as his predecessor.
Tower of London guards attend the Tower of London reopening ceremony on July 10, 2020.
In response to calls for DNA identification of children's remains found underground in the Tower of London and Windsor Castle, Michael Howard, who was home secretary from 1993 to 1997, and Michael Mayne, then president of Westminster Abbey in 1995, have said this could set a bad precedent and trigger more cases of exhumation and destruction of the remains of members of the royal family. Mayne said such an investigation, which could not provide an answer, would be difficult and pointless. He believes that such an identification is not accurate enough to solve the mystery of the "prince in the tower". "What else do we get but to satisfy our curiosity about a certain field? This will not bring us closer to understanding the truth of the matter. ”
In 2013, a Westminster Abbey spokesperson made it clear: "The recent discovery of the remains of Richard III does not change the church's position that the remains of two young children should not be alerted, despite the widespread belief since the 17th century that they are 'princes in the tower'." ”
King Charles III of England
But Bowman, co-chief curator of the Royal Palaces Organization (HRP), which manages some of the unused palaces, said King Charles III, who recently took the throne, took a different view and supported DNA testing. Bowman said Charles III wanted an investigation into how the royal brothers died. Charles III was passionate about archaeology and studied archaeology, anthropology and history at Trinity College, Cambridge. Therefore, Charles' attitude gives hope for solving this historical mystery.
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