1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:03,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:08,440 Speaker 1: and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Minky. Listener discretion is advised. 3 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: In the BBC's History magazine, History Extra ran a poll 4 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: online asking readers to vote for their favorite historical mystery. 5 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:32,560 Speaker 1: There were twenty choices, ranging from the purpose of Stonehenge 6 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:37,200 Speaker 1: to the translation of the Voytage manuscript to the final 7 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 1: resting place of Jesus Christ's body. With twenty choices, they 8 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: probably anticipated that it was going to be a close race, 9 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: one where perhaps a few front runners emerged. One of 10 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: the mysteries wiped the floor with the other choices. More 11 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: than one in three readers voted for the Exact Say mystery, 12 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: which ended up at a final percentage more than double 13 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:07,319 Speaker 1: the votes of the mystery that came in second place. 14 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: The first place winner for the History Extra poll. The 15 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: historical mystery that captivated and compelled readers beyond wanting to 16 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: know what happened to the actual Jesus Christ. Was this 17 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: what happened to the Princes in the Tower. In fourteen 18 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: eighty three, two boys, the sons and heirs of the 19 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:37,559 Speaker 1: late King Edward the Fourth, were put into the Tower 20 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: of London, ostensibly to prepare and keep safe before the 21 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: older boy, King Edward the Fifth coronation. But while they 22 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: were safely behind the walls of the castle fortress, their 23 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: uncle and the regent, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, announced that 24 00:01:55,440 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: new information had emerged that the boys were actually legitimate. 25 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: That summer, the man coronated was actually Richard himself, who 26 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:12,359 Speaker 1: became King Richard the Third. He reigned briefly until Henry 27 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: Tudor bested him in battle and claimed the throne, beginning 28 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: the Tudor dynasty and more or less ending the civil 29 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: war that had raged for decades over the English throne 30 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: known as the War of the Roses. People had seen 31 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: the two princes, they weren't quite princes, but we'll get 32 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: to that later, playing outside on the lawns of the 33 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: Tower of London that summer in but then their servants 34 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: were dismissed. The princes were moved deeper within the grounds 35 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: of the castle to the towers inner apartments, and then 36 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:58,359 Speaker 1: one day no one ever saw them again. The two 37 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: doomed princes have come famous over the centuries through depictions 38 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: in art. Perhaps the most iconic painting of the boys 39 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: was done in eighteen seventy eight by Sir John Everett Millay, 40 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: and it features the boys dressed in all black. They 41 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 1: look younger than they would have actually been twelve and nine, 42 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: and in the painting they're almost cherubic under halos of 43 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: blonde hair, as the painter portrays them their innocence, martyrs 44 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: of the cruel ambitions of the grown men around them. 45 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: Most people probably learned the story of the Princess through Shakespeare. 46 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 1: In his play Richard the Third, Shakespeare portrays the king 47 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: as a scheming, villainous hunchback who lurks in the shadows, 48 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: waiting for his moment to claim power and eventually to 49 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: murder his own nephews in order to secure the crown. 50 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: The Lord Chancellor Thomas Moore perhaps wrote the most famous 51 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: historical account of Richard the Third, similarly portraying him as 52 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: a murderous tyrant. It was More who first named names 53 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: when it came to the Prince's alleged murderers, and he 54 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: added the compelling details that their young bodies were buried 55 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:22,039 Speaker 1: under a staircase in the Tower of London. But it's 56 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: important to remember that both of those men. More and 57 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: Shakespeare were writing under the Tutor dynasty. History is told 58 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: by the victors, after all, and Richard the Third was 59 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:38,040 Speaker 1: the end of his family's line. When Henry Tutor defeated 60 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: him in battle and became King Henry the Seventh, his 61 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: claim was pretty weak. There were other older families that really, 62 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: arguably should have gotten the crown ahead of him, and 63 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,840 Speaker 1: his claim was really predicated on the fact that his 64 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,840 Speaker 1: victory over Richard the Third in the Battle of bosworth 65 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: Field was God's will anointing him king. His power relied 66 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: then on Richard the Third being a villainous usurper. Otherwise 67 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: he Henry the seventh, would be the usurper. And so 68 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:14,279 Speaker 1: did Richard the Third actually order the death of his 69 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: own nephews in order to secure his crown. Or was 70 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:21,480 Speaker 1: he manipulated after death into a villain by the Tutor 71 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 1: pr machine when the boys might have been killed by 72 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: them the Tutors all along, or did the boys survive 73 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: and run away to live peaceful lives as park rangers 74 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: in pastoral England. Over the years, the question of the 75 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: Princes in the Tower has baffled and fascinated historians and 76 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 1: casual hobbyists alike, to the point where factions have formed 77 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: and become deeply entrenched, another smaller scale war of the 78 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: roses happening among the history set. Here are the facts 79 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: as we know them, that two boys came into the 80 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,119 Speaker 1: Tower of London, the sons of a king who should 81 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: have been protected and powerful. But power is only as 82 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:13,480 Speaker 1: meaningful as one's ability to wield it, and kings are 83 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,720 Speaker 1: only kings so long as those around them choose to 84 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 1: obey them. Whether you believe in murder or tutor plots 85 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:25,479 Speaker 1: or daring escapes, the heart of the matter is a 86 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: reminder that the divine right to rule is fragile. Kings 87 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:34,840 Speaker 1: can be toppled by rumors as well as swords. Sometimes 88 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: they're toppled by both. We will likely never find a 89 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:42,719 Speaker 1: definite answer to the question of what happened to the 90 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:45,599 Speaker 1: princes in the tower. Let me get that out of 91 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:48,279 Speaker 1: the way upfront, lest you listen to this whole episode 92 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,279 Speaker 1: hoping that I'm going to be the one to crack 93 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,599 Speaker 1: this thing wide open. Of course, I do have my 94 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: own theory as to what happened, but I also believe 95 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: that the killing of the two boys was a little 96 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: less pat and a little less villainous than Shakespeare made 97 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:08,480 Speaker 1: it seem it was an era of kill or be killed, 98 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: and with the walls closing in on him, Richard the 99 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: Third had a decision to make I'm Dana Schwartz, and 100 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: this is noble blood. When the man we now know 101 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: as Richard the Third was born in fourteen fifty two, 102 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: he was almost an afterthought. He was his parents fourth 103 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: child and third son. They already had their air and 104 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: their spare. In a family chronicle published when Richard was 105 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: a child, their only note on the young Richard was 106 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: that he quote liveth Yet Richard's father was also confusingly 107 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: named Richard the d of York, also known as Richard Plantagenet. 108 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: He was an incredibly important nobleman at the time, inheriting 109 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: a claim to the throne through his own mother, which 110 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: made him a key figure in the War of the Roses, 111 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: which began unfolding in earnest during Richard the Third's childhood. 112 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:22,440 Speaker 1: Entire books can be and have been written about the 113 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 1: War of the Roses, but I'm going to do an 114 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: incredibly brief cursory overview just to give you an idea 115 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: of how complicated the seemingly simple question of who the 116 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:37,320 Speaker 1: rightful King of England was so here are the crib notes. 117 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,559 Speaker 1: We begin with King Edward the Third, who reigned until 118 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: thirteen seventy seven. He had eight sons and five daughters, 119 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:50,560 Speaker 1: so as you might imagine, there's plenty of legitimate and 120 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:54,560 Speaker 1: illegitimate royal blood swirling around in people ready to claim 121 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:59,559 Speaker 1: royal ancestry. His oldest son is his heir, Edward the 122 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: Black Prince, and the Black Prince has his own son 123 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:06,680 Speaker 1: the next in line. But then Edward the Black Prince dies, 124 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,680 Speaker 1: and so when King Edward the Third dies, the throne 125 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:15,679 Speaker 1: goes to his grandchild, Richard the Second. The problem is 126 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: Richard the Second is a ten year old boy at 127 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:22,199 Speaker 1: this point, and when there's a child in charge, especially 128 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: a child like Richard the Second, who was speculated to 129 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 1: be later either insane or suffering from a personality disorder, 130 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: other people tend to want to move into that power vacuum. 131 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:37,439 Speaker 1: The War of the Roses becomes so called by future 132 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: generations because the two families involved, the Yorks and the Lancasters, 133 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: both had roses for their family symbols, the white rose 134 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: of York and the red of Lancaster. Both families were 135 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 1: descended from cadet branches of King Edward the Third cadet branches, 136 00:09:56,200 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: meaning descended from his younger sons. Personally, I'm a very 137 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:04,080 Speaker 1: visual thinker, and I realize how challenging this is to 138 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: communicate through audio. But bear with me if you can. 139 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: King Edward the Third basically has four surviving sons that 140 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 1: matter to the story right now, Edward the Black Prince, 141 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:20,080 Speaker 1: Lionel of Antwerp, John of Gaunt, and Edmund of Langley. 142 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:23,040 Speaker 1: Edward the Black Prince dies and he has the sickly 143 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: son who's technically the king, but whose fairly disastrous reign 144 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 1: sets up this power vacuum that allows the War of 145 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: the Roses to happen. So now there are two main 146 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: family lines vying for the throne. The Lancaster claim comes 147 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 1: through son number three, John of Gaunt. The Yorkist claim 148 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:47,160 Speaker 1: is a little more complicated. Their heirs of son number two, 149 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:53,080 Speaker 1: Lionel of Antwerp, but through his female descendants head of 150 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:56,720 Speaker 1: the York family was Richard the Third's dad, Richard of York. 151 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:00,559 Speaker 1: On his mother's side, he's a descendant of Lionel Vantwerp, 152 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: son number two, but on his father's side he's the 153 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:09,440 Speaker 1: grandson of Edmund of Langley, son number four, So it's 154 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 1: two claims from sons too and four, which you know 155 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: combined is arguably better than the Lancaster line from son three, 156 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:24,480 Speaker 1: arguably hence the war. The House of Lancaster has a 157 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:30,080 Speaker 1: successful early start. Henry the Fourth overthrows the weak, unpopular 158 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:35,679 Speaker 1: Richard the Second in his son Henry five, is also king, 159 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:39,120 Speaker 1: but makes the mistake of dying when his only son, 160 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:43,560 Speaker 1: Henry the sixth, is just an infant. Once again, we 161 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 1: have a power vacuum, especially as Henry the sixth that 162 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:51,880 Speaker 1: gets older and begins suffering from mental illness, so the 163 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: time is ripe for the Yorks to reclaim their throne. 164 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:59,320 Speaker 1: Richard the Third grows up in this period watching his 165 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:03,439 Speaker 1: father and older brother Edward leading a rebellion against the 166 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:08,800 Speaker 1: Lancaster King Henry the sixth. When Richard's father dies in 167 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 1: battle in fourteen sixty, it's Richard the third older brother 168 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: who becomes Edward the Fourth, who inherits the Yorkist claim 169 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:21,079 Speaker 1: to the throne and who ultimately wins. Richard's older brother 170 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:25,680 Speaker 1: Edward is crowned King Edward the Fourth and bearing one 171 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,839 Speaker 1: brief period ten years in where Henry the sixth and 172 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,400 Speaker 1: his supporters fight back and briefly get him back on 173 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: the throne. Edward remains King Our Richard the third was 174 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 1: a child through all of that. He was eight when 175 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 1: his father was killed in battle, and he was sent 176 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,160 Speaker 1: away for low countries the Netherlands for his own safety. 177 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: After that, only returning the next year when his older brother, 178 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 1: Edward the fourth was crowned king. As the loyal younger 179 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:56,560 Speaker 1: brother of the new king, Richard was given a shiny 180 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:00,839 Speaker 1: new title, Duke of Gloucester. He's maid a Knight of 181 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:04,480 Speaker 1: the Garter and Knight of the Bath, and he remains loyal, 182 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 1: looking up to his brother and eagerly fighting for his causes. 183 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: When Richard is eleven, he's made Commissioner of Array. At seventeen, 184 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: Richard has given independent command in the military. Aside from 185 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: the brief hiccup when Henry the sixth returned to the 186 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,600 Speaker 1: throne for less than six months, things are going swimmingly 187 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:31,559 Speaker 1: for the York family. As Shakespeare put it immortally, quote, 188 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:35,680 Speaker 1: now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer 189 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 1: by this son of York. By four seventy three, Edward 190 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:45,920 Speaker 1: the fourth was comfortably king and not just king, a 191 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,960 Speaker 1: king with two sons, the all important air and spare 192 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 1: by his wife Elizabeth Woodville. The King's marriage was actually 193 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: pretty controversial, put it mild. It was actually Edward the 194 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:06,079 Speaker 1: fourth choice of bride that pretty much caused that six 195 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,719 Speaker 1: month pickup where he lost the crown. You see, Elizabeth 196 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: Woodville was from fairly middle rank. She had already been 197 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: married to a supporter of the House of Lancaster, the 198 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: enemy house, with whom she had two sons. Her last 199 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 1: husband had died in battle fighting for the Lancasters. People 200 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: saw the Woodvilles as a scheming, social climbing bunch, and 201 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 1: when Edward the Fourth chose to marry one of them, 202 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:39,240 Speaker 1: his powerful cousin, the Earl of Warwick, defected to the 203 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:43,120 Speaker 1: other side and helped Henry the sixth with that brief restoration. 204 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: All of that was probably a little awkward for young 205 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:50,680 Speaker 1: Richard the Third, who had grown up under the tutelage 206 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: of Warwick. It was work who had trained him as 207 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: a knight and provided for his education. After Warwick's betrayal 208 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 1: and death in battle, Richard married his daughter, which Shakespeare 209 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 1: positioned as a pretty cruel and insidious form of revenge, 210 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:12,360 Speaker 1: but which a more charitable interpretation to Richard the Third 211 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 1: would point out also gave him a pretty massive inheritance. 212 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: At the end of the day. For Richard, loyalty to 213 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:24,600 Speaker 1: his brother the king was the most important thing. One 214 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 1: of his other brothers had actually chosen the opposite side 215 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: during the rebellion and was executed for treason when Edward 216 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: the Fourth came back to the throne, But Richard the 217 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: Third had always been loyal, and so he continued to 218 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:42,360 Speaker 1: grow in power and prestige at his brother's side, loyal 219 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: protector of the York Family dynasty. It was fourteen eighty three. 220 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 1: After decades of war and thousands of lives lost in 221 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: bloody conflicts up and down the country, England was finally 222 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:01,640 Speaker 1: at peace under King Edward the Four, but that piece 223 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: was about to be shattered. On April nine, King Edward 224 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:12,760 Speaker 1: the Fourth died suddenly at age forty. We don't know 225 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: what he died of, whether the illness might have been 226 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:20,920 Speaker 1: a sudden case of pneumonia or even malaria, or internal hemorrhaging, 227 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,160 Speaker 1: whatever it was. It was assumed at the time that 228 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 1: the king's excessive lifestyle of eating and drinking to the 229 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:33,040 Speaker 1: extreme didn't help. But whatever the cause, he was dead 230 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:36,880 Speaker 1: and his twelve year old son was now King Edward 231 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 1: the five. Young Edward was living at Ludlow Castle, the 232 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: seat of power in Wales at the time. His guardian 233 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 1: and tutor was his maternal uncle, a man named Lord Rivers. 234 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 1: Lord Rivers had practically raised Edward from the time that 235 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: he was a toddler. It was he Lord Rivers, the 236 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 1: Queen's brother a Woodville, who taught Edward how to fight 237 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:05,720 Speaker 1: with the sword, who secured his tutors, and who became 238 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: the strongest paternal present in his life. And it was 239 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 1: he Lord Rivers who received the letter a few days 240 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: after the king's death, who then had to inform Young 241 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: Edward that his father had died and that he was 242 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: now the king. Word of the king's death had also 243 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:28,160 Speaker 1: traveled to the north of England, where the dead King's brother, 244 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:32,600 Speaker 1: the future Richard the Third, had his estates. He immediately 245 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:36,240 Speaker 1: returned to his home and changed into black, attending a 246 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,119 Speaker 1: memorial service for his brother and weeping for his loss. 247 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,720 Speaker 1: Richard also got noticed that the late king's final wishes 248 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 1: were to appoint him as protector of the realm, in 249 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 1: effect de facto king until the twelve year old boy 250 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:57,080 Speaker 1: came of age. Richard, now thirty years old, was the 251 00:17:57,160 --> 00:18:00,880 Speaker 1: logical choice. He was the most senior royal in the family, 252 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 1: and after all, he had spent a lifetime in military service. 253 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 1: He was considered an English hero for his leadership in 254 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: putting down rebellions for his brother. He was loyal and 255 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:16,080 Speaker 1: adept at making quick decisions, even when those decisions were hard, 256 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:19,560 Speaker 1: and so he began to prepare to head down to 257 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:25,240 Speaker 1: London to uphold his brother's final wishes. But then another 258 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:30,040 Speaker 1: letter came. This one was from a man named Lord Hastings. 259 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:35,120 Speaker 1: Hastings was an old career nobleman, so to speak, one 260 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 1: of the dead king's closest friends. He warned Richard that 261 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,560 Speaker 1: he needed to get down to London as quickly as possible, 262 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:47,120 Speaker 1: that the Woodvilles, the Queen's family, were closing their claws 263 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:52,840 Speaker 1: around power. The Woodvilles, once a middling noble family, had 264 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: had a meteoric rise when their daughter Elizabeth had married 265 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: Edward the Fourth, the type of rise that only happens 266 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 1: because you're married to the king. They all knew well 267 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:07,960 Speaker 1: enough that if Richard had any real power, even temporarily, 268 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:13,200 Speaker 1: their stars would be falling, and so the Woodvills, who 269 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 1: dominated the council in London, announced that the coronation for 270 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 1: young Edward the Five would be immediate. It was a 271 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:28,639 Speaker 1: move designed to cut Richard out, and no doubt it's stung. 272 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,159 Speaker 1: After all, he was the King's loyal brother and a 273 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: celebrated soldier. He had royal blood, and it was the 274 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:40,800 Speaker 1: late king's final wishes that he be Lord Protector until 275 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 1: Edward the Five came of age. Who should be making 276 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:47,439 Speaker 1: decisions now a twelve year old boy a family that 277 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:52,159 Speaker 1: was basically middle class. By making the coronation immediate, the 278 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 1: Woodvills were in effect dismissing Richard's position, deciding that Edward 279 00:19:57,119 --> 00:20:00,280 Speaker 1: the Five was already fine to rule with the ice 280 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,359 Speaker 1: and guidance of his mother and her family. Of course, 281 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: whatever Richard was thinking at this moment, we can't be sure. 282 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: I don't really believe the Shakespearean portrayal that he was 283 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,679 Speaker 1: already plotting his own assent to the throne. But I 284 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:19,919 Speaker 1: can't imagine that he figured, probably correctly, that he was 285 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:22,399 Speaker 1: the one who should rightfully be in power at the moment. 286 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,000 Speaker 1: Richard wrote to Lord Rivers, the guardian of the new King, 287 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,920 Speaker 1: and said, let's all meet up on the way down 288 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 1: to London for the coronation in Northampton, so we can 289 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,840 Speaker 1: enter London together as a sign of unity and strength. 290 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:40,400 Speaker 1: Lord Rivers had no reason to doubt Richard, and so 291 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:45,640 Speaker 1: he readily agreed with the new uncoornated King Edward the Five. 292 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:51,960 Speaker 1: Staying nearby at Stony Stratford, Richard went to meet Lord Rivers. Recall, 293 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:55,359 Speaker 1: Lord Rivers is a Woodville, the brother of the Queen, 294 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,480 Speaker 1: and so by this point Richard sees him as one 295 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:03,720 Speaker 1: of the bowl, wrestling rightful power away from him. And 296 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 1: it's here that Richard the Third makes a fateful decision, 297 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 1: one that will be the first domino that leads to 298 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 1: his own destruction. After the men spend the evening cordially 299 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 1: enough discussing travel arrangements and plans for the coronation, Richard 300 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: the Third has his guards arrest Rivers for treason. The 301 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:33,640 Speaker 1: next morning, Richard goes to see his nephew, the new King. Alone, 302 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:39,520 Speaker 1: Richard informs the new King that unfortunately his beloved uncle 303 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 1: Rivers was a trader. The charge against him was, if 304 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: you'll forgive me in my opinion a little flimsy. Richard 305 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: claims that Lord Rivers was responsible for speeding up the 306 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,399 Speaker 1: death of the late King Edward the Fourth by encouraging 307 00:21:56,480 --> 00:22:02,160 Speaker 1: his heavy drinking. Young King Edward the five is shocked, angry, 308 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:06,399 Speaker 1: and maybe a little scared. Though Richard is the boy's uncle, 309 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:10,399 Speaker 1: they barely know each other. Edward grew up in London 310 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:13,639 Speaker 1: and at Ludlow and Richard's the states were mostly in 311 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:17,119 Speaker 1: the North of England. It was Lord Rivers who basically 312 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,680 Speaker 1: raised him. There was one uncle that he trusted and 313 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:24,320 Speaker 1: one uncle that he really didn't, but what choice did 314 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 1: he have. At that point, Richard informed the boy that 315 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: it was time to go down to London for his coronation. 316 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:35,200 Speaker 1: I'm sure Edward was thinking something along the lines of, well, 317 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: I'm going to become king and it's nothing I won't 318 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 1: be able to straighten out with the rest of my 319 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 1: family when I get to London. But now the power 320 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 1: has shifted in Richard's favor. When he arrives in London 321 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,640 Speaker 1: with the young King and word of the Woodville Lord 322 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:56,600 Speaker 1: Rivers supposed treason, Richard is finally able to be officially 323 00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:01,159 Speaker 1: appointed Lord Protector, at least until Edward the Fifth coronation, 324 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:06,360 Speaker 1: which is set for June twenty second, seven weeks away. 325 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: Those seven weeks become a ticking clock. Richard has raised 326 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,479 Speaker 1: the stakes, and if he wants to hold onto power, 327 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: he needs to work quickly. It's at this point that 328 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 1: Richard has the Young King Edward the Fifth placed in 329 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 1: the Tower of London. Now that sounds a little bit 330 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,200 Speaker 1: more sinister than it was. The Tower of London now 331 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:32,119 Speaker 1: is most famous for being a prison, but it was 332 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 1: also a royal residence, and it was tradition for a 333 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:39,320 Speaker 1: king to stay there the night before his coronation. But 334 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,840 Speaker 1: from this point on Edward is more or less under 335 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:47,359 Speaker 1: house arrest by his uncle Richard. Edward will never leave 336 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:51,680 Speaker 1: the grounds of the Tower of London again. Edward's mother, 337 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:57,439 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Woodville, the Dowager Queen, flees to Westminster Abbey Sanctuary 338 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,640 Speaker 1: with her other children, her daughters, and her other son, 339 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 1: a nine year old boy named Richard. Meanwhile, the elder 340 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,919 Speaker 1: Richard the third is trying to shore up his power. 341 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:12,080 Speaker 1: He knows full well that the second that the Young 342 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,200 Speaker 1: King Edward the Fifth is coronated, he's going to revert 343 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 1: back to full Woodville control. Richard grows increasingly paranoid, feeling 344 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:24,959 Speaker 1: trapped into a corner as the Royal Council, still dominated 345 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:29,920 Speaker 1: by Woodvilles, keeps blocking his moves. Richard attempts to put 346 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 1: Lord Rivers, still imprisoned, on trial for treason, and he 347 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:37,040 Speaker 1: also tries to get the young Richard the second quote 348 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:41,200 Speaker 1: unquote Prince into the Tower of London for quote unquote 349 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: safe keeping. Richard the Third fears that even his once 350 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:49,639 Speaker 1: close ally, Lord Hastings, has betrayed him and has begun 351 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 1: working with the Woodvilles to undermine his power. With just 352 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:58,200 Speaker 1: nine days left until Edward the fifth Coronation, Richard calls 353 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: a small council meeting at the Power of London, and 354 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:07,800 Speaker 1: to everyone's surprise, he has Lord Hastings arrested. Lord Hastings 355 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: is brought outside and executed in the yard that afternoon 356 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:16,879 Speaker 1: on a makeshift chopping block, killed illegally without a trial. 357 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: For staunch defenders of Richard. This killing of Lord Hastings is, 358 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:28,680 Speaker 1: at least the way I see it, one of those 359 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:32,359 Speaker 1: real sticking points that looks bad. It was a move 360 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,680 Speaker 1: made almost certainly out of fear and paranoia and desperation, 361 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:40,679 Speaker 1: but it was also an illegal execution without a trial 362 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:44,160 Speaker 1: of one of the most respected noblemen in the country, 363 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 1: one of the late King's closest friends. Richard just gave 364 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,640 Speaker 1: his enemies the fuel that they'll need later on when 365 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:56,280 Speaker 1: they'll try to paint him as an outright villain. But 366 00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:01,280 Speaker 1: for now, Richard has made his power and is ruthlessness known, 367 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,639 Speaker 1: and through the Archbishop, he more or less forces Elizabeth 368 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:09,520 Speaker 1: Woodville to release her younger son into Richard's custody in 369 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:13,399 Speaker 1: the Tower of London, still at this point under the 370 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:19,199 Speaker 1: pretense of preparing for his older brother's coronation. Now Richard 371 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:23,439 Speaker 1: has both princes in his custody in the Tower. I 372 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 1: think now is as good a time as any just 373 00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 1: to clear something up. Technically, neither of them were actually 374 00:26:29,119 --> 00:26:31,960 Speaker 1: princes when they were in the tower. One of them 375 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: was a king even though he was not coronated yet, 376 00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:37,760 Speaker 1: he was still King Edward the five, and the other 377 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:41,280 Speaker 1: was a duke, young Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. 378 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:44,879 Speaker 1: But people call them the Princess the Princess in the Tower, 379 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:48,680 Speaker 1: so for clarity, that's sometimes how I'll refer to them. 380 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:52,960 Speaker 1: But whatever their titles, now that they were in Richard's control. 381 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,159 Speaker 1: The pieces were in place for him to make a 382 00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:02,320 Speaker 1: big move. Seemingly out of nowhere, a bishop comes forward 383 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:06,720 Speaker 1: and announces that actually the late King Edward the Fourth's 384 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:11,160 Speaker 1: marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid because he had already 385 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:14,639 Speaker 1: been pre contracted to another woman, and by law at 386 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:19,120 Speaker 1: that time, pre contracts with witnesses were as good as marriage. 387 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,679 Speaker 1: The bishop who came forward claimed that he had been 388 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:26,399 Speaker 1: the one who performed the earlier ceremony, back before he 389 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 1: was a bishop. He was promoted under Edward the Fourth, 390 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: which some people see as a sign that his claim 391 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 1: was true. Maybe Edward the Fourth promoted him to keep 392 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:41,040 Speaker 1: him quiet, and he only felt safe coming forward after 393 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:45,879 Speaker 1: the king's death. But unfortunately we have no real tangible 394 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,480 Speaker 1: proof on either side. The woman Edward the fourth had 395 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:54,760 Speaker 1: allegedly been contracted to Eleanor Butler had already passed away. 396 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:58,480 Speaker 1: The streets of London were buzzing with the gossip, and 397 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,240 Speaker 1: true or not, the timing could not have been more 398 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:06,720 Speaker 1: convenient for Richard. If the king's marriage was invalid, his 399 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:12,879 Speaker 1: children were illegitimate and ineligible to become king. Well, then 400 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:17,600 Speaker 1: who should rule instead? I think then it has to 401 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:23,120 Speaker 1: be the late king's brother, Richard. A petition arrives for him, 402 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 1: nobles and commoners asking Richard to be king, and he 403 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:33,520 Speaker 1: dramatically hesitates for a moment theatrically before humbly agreeing to 404 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 1: do his duty. On July six three, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, 405 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:50,920 Speaker 1: is crowned King Richard the Third. Richard's nephews, the quote 406 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:55,920 Speaker 1: unquote princes were seen playing on the lawns later that summer, 407 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,800 Speaker 1: but then their servants were dismissed. They were moved to 408 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:05,800 Speaker 1: apartments deeper within the castle's compound, and though some claimed 409 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 1: to see them at the windows gazing out, by autumn 410 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:16,880 Speaker 1: of free nobody ever sees young Edward or Young Richard again. 411 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: King Richard the Third has a short reign, although not 412 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:27,480 Speaker 1: as enemies retroactively portray it, not an unsuccessful or unpopular reign. 413 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:32,880 Speaker 1: Contemporaries actually seemed to approve of him, but support grew 414 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:36,640 Speaker 1: both in England and abroad for the exiled Henry Tudor, 415 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:39,200 Speaker 1: who had a claim to the throne through his mother, 416 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:43,760 Speaker 1: Margaret Beaufort, who was a Lancastrian, the great granddaughter of 417 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:47,760 Speaker 1: John Gaunt, that third surviving son of Edward the third. 418 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:52,360 Speaker 1: Henry Tudor faced Richard in combat during the Battle of 419 00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:55,800 Speaker 1: bosworth Field, and though they say that Richard got within 420 00:29:55,880 --> 00:30:00,680 Speaker 1: a sword's length of Henry Tudor, eventually Richard was surrounded 421 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:05,360 Speaker 1: and knocked to the ground. It's here that Shakespeare imagined 422 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:09,840 Speaker 1: that Richard uttered the immortal line my Kingdom for a horse. 423 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:15,240 Speaker 1: Richard was killed, according to legend, by a Welshman who 424 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:19,440 Speaker 1: delivered such a violent blow with a polex that Richard's 425 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:24,880 Speaker 1: helmet was driven through his skull. In actuality, Richard probably 426 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 1: just lost his helmet in battle, but we'll get to 427 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:31,840 Speaker 1: that a little bit later. Richard was dead and Henry 428 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:35,600 Speaker 1: was crowned King Henry the seventh. As a sign of 429 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:39,440 Speaker 1: unity and to strengthen his claim to the throne, Henry 430 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:43,440 Speaker 1: married the young Elizabeth of York, the sister of those 431 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:47,360 Speaker 1: princes in the Tower. Because Henry's claim was through the 432 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:52,640 Speaker 1: Lancastrian side and Elizabeth was a York he was symbolically 433 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:55,960 Speaker 1: uniting the feuding houses of the War of the Roses, 434 00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:00,400 Speaker 1: and he established a new house the Tutors, with the 435 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 1: symbol of a combined white and red rose. It was 436 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:14,080 Speaker 1: during the tudorign that the stories really began to emerge 437 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:17,840 Speaker 1: about the evil, scheming Richard the Third, who killed his 438 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:20,960 Speaker 1: own innocent little nephews to take the crown for himself. 439 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:25,320 Speaker 1: The truth that Henry and his supporters wouldn't really like 440 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,920 Speaker 1: to admit out loud is that it was pretty convenient 441 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,959 Speaker 1: for him too that those princes were gone. If they 442 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:35,360 Speaker 1: were alive, he would basically have no claim to the throne. 443 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 1: Even centuries later, we can't help but be fascinated and 444 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,840 Speaker 1: compelled by the image of the would be king and 445 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: his younger brother, these angelic blond boys gazing out of 446 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 1: a window like ghosts, innocent who are victims of ambition 447 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:57,320 Speaker 1: or who maybe went on to live a life that 448 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 1: we can only speculate about. Because the mystery of the 449 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:06,400 Speaker 1: disappearance of the princes is still unanswered, and because there 450 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 1: were so many layers of gossip and propaganda on both sides, 451 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:14,520 Speaker 1: and a seemingly infinite number of people who benefited from 452 00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: the boy's deaths, it's ripe for conspiracy theories. Not even 453 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:24,600 Speaker 1: conspiracy theories necessarily, just theories, and all of them sort 454 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:27,920 Speaker 1: of plausible if you squint. So let's get to some 455 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:34,240 Speaker 1: of those possible answers, the most commonly accepted answer is 456 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:37,560 Speaker 1: that Richard was responsible for the death of his nephews, 457 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:41,400 Speaker 1: not personally, mind you, he wasn't a cartoon villain who 458 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:45,640 Speaker 1: went and strangled two children himself while twirling his mustache, 459 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:50,240 Speaker 1: but that the deaths were done on his orders. Thomas Moore, 460 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:52,960 Speaker 1: who you have to remember, was writing under the Tutors, 461 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 1: wrote that the murder itself was done by James Terrell, 462 00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:59,520 Speaker 1: Richard's master of the horse, and that he was aided 463 00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:03,560 Speaker 1: by two men named Miles Forrest and John Dighton. According 464 00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:08,000 Speaker 1: to Moore's account, the two boys were suffocated and buried 465 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:11,000 Speaker 1: at the bottom of a flight of stairs, and then 466 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:15,520 Speaker 1: later moved. It's also possible that the murders were done 467 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:19,480 Speaker 1: by someone loyal to Richard, but not on his exact orders. 468 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:23,320 Speaker 1: Maybe a will no one rid me of this meddlesome 469 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:28,479 Speaker 1: priest situation. Unfortunately, I know it's not exciting, but I 470 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:31,920 Speaker 1: personally do think that this is a situation where the 471 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:36,560 Speaker 1: most boring answer is probably the right one. After Richard 472 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,000 Speaker 1: was crowned, he went on a tour of the country 473 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:41,640 Speaker 1: as a show of strength to show the people that 474 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:45,040 Speaker 1: there was a solid king in charge. While he was away, 475 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:48,920 Speaker 1: his guards thwarted an attempt to spring the princes from 476 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:52,800 Speaker 1: the tower. The conspirators were going to set fires around 477 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:55,560 Speaker 1: the tower and escape with the boys in the chaos. 478 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,840 Speaker 1: The plan, as I said, was thwarted, but probably made 479 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:02,600 Speaker 1: it very clear to Richard that as long as the 480 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:05,880 Speaker 1: two boys were alive, and even though they had been 481 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:10,640 Speaker 1: officially declared illegitimate, they were still a threat. There were 482 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:13,120 Speaker 1: always going to be people who thought that they were 483 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:15,880 Speaker 1: the rightful kings, and there were always going to be 484 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:20,320 Speaker 1: enemies of Richard's who would want to use them as ponds. Plus, 485 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:23,839 Speaker 1: of course, even twelve year old boys eventually grow up 486 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:27,640 Speaker 1: to be men, men who can gather supporters and fight 487 00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:32,840 Speaker 1: for a rightful claim to the throne. Even if Richard 488 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:36,239 Speaker 1: did order the death of his nephews, I think it's 489 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:40,640 Speaker 1: worth realizing that he probably didn't see himself as a monster. 490 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:44,200 Speaker 1: Richard had grown up during the War of the Roses, 491 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:48,120 Speaker 1: and he saw firsthand how bloody and deadly it was 492 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:51,120 Speaker 1: when the claim to the crown was contested, or when 493 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:55,360 Speaker 1: a weak child king was in charge. Tens of thousands 494 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:58,800 Speaker 1: of people died in battle and civil war made England 495 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:03,720 Speaker 1: and the monarchy vulnerable. If Richard did order the murders 496 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:06,920 Speaker 1: of his nephews, he probably would have seen it as 497 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:10,480 Speaker 1: a necessary evil to protect the peace and stability in 498 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:14,760 Speaker 1: the country and to protect his own son's claimed the throne. 499 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:19,360 Speaker 1: These were incredibly bloody times, and the stakes were life 500 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:25,160 Speaker 1: and death. Could the princes have died of natural causes, maybe, 501 00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:29,120 Speaker 1: but they were two pretty young, healthy boys who mysteriously 502 00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:33,200 Speaker 1: went missing at exactly the same time. Also, if they 503 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:36,800 Speaker 1: had died of natural causes, Richard probably would have wanted 504 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:40,320 Speaker 1: that known so people wouldn't rally behind them, and so 505 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:44,440 Speaker 1: people would stop accusing him of the nephew murder. A 506 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:47,200 Speaker 1: lot of Richard's defenders make the case that it was 507 00:35:47,239 --> 00:35:50,360 Speaker 1: actually the tutors who killed the two princes in the tower. 508 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:55,040 Speaker 1: When Henry the seventh overthrew Richard three, Henry would have 509 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:59,240 Speaker 1: rightfully recognized that Edward the fifth and his brother being alive, 510 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:04,240 Speaker 1: were a major major threat to his rule, and because 511 00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:07,799 Speaker 1: he had just overthrown Richard the third, he needed a 512 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:12,080 Speaker 1: way to make Richard look as evil as possible. It 513 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:15,680 Speaker 1: makes sense that if the princess had still been alive 514 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:19,440 Speaker 1: in four five, when Henry the seventh took the throne, 515 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:24,200 Speaker 1: killing them and framing Richard would be the ultimate two 516 00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 1: birds one stone. It's a really interesting theory and definitely 517 00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:32,799 Speaker 1: one that I understand why people believe, but there's not 518 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:37,120 Speaker 1: a lot of factual evidence, and I think that there 519 00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:41,160 Speaker 1: would have been some record, some sightings, anything, if the 520 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:46,200 Speaker 1: princess had still been alive by five, which I just 521 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:48,839 Speaker 1: don't think on the merit of evidence that they were. 522 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:54,640 Speaker 1: Thanks to historical fiction, particularly the incredibly popular work of 523 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:58,840 Speaker 1: Philippa Gregory, there's also a very popular theory that the 524 00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:02,960 Speaker 1: deaths were actually the work of Henry the Seventh's powerful mother, 525 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:09,480 Speaker 1: Margaret Beaufort, who manipulated the situation while Richard was still king. Again. 526 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:13,760 Speaker 1: It's a fantastic story that this woman saw the opportunity 527 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:17,399 Speaker 1: to frame Richard and rally the cause around her own son, 528 00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:20,719 Speaker 1: while at the same time eliminating the people who would 529 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:23,440 Speaker 1: be in line for the throne ahead of him. But 530 00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:27,720 Speaker 1: we don't really have any actual evidence of this beyond 531 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:33,280 Speaker 1: a good story. It's fun, but you know, the princes 532 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:37,880 Speaker 1: under Richard were heavily heavily guarded, and though Margaret Beaufort 533 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:43,160 Speaker 1: could have in theory bribed the very loyal guards. It's 534 00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:46,360 Speaker 1: almost impossible to believe that she could have offered anything 535 00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:49,879 Speaker 1: that the sitting king couldn't have offered. No one could 536 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:52,520 Speaker 1: have predicted that Henry the seven would have been the 537 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:56,960 Speaker 1: one to best Richard the three and become king himself. Personally, 538 00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:59,479 Speaker 1: I think this is a question of hindsight being able 539 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:03,000 Speaker 1: to show us things that Margaret couldn't possibly have known 540 00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:05,960 Speaker 1: at the time. You would have to believe that this 541 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:10,000 Speaker 1: woman was playing four dimensional chess with things playing out 542 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:13,520 Speaker 1: in an incredibly unpredictable way. And you also have to 543 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:18,280 Speaker 1: believe that she was incredibly ruthless, even though contemporary sources 544 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:23,760 Speaker 1: actually paint her as a pretty pious lady. But again, 545 00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:26,640 Speaker 1: I will never knock someone for wanting to believe a 546 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:30,960 Speaker 1: good story. Okay, that's not true. There is one story 547 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:33,279 Speaker 1: that I do just have to debunk a little bit 548 00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:36,680 Speaker 1: out of hand. In recent months, a story has gone 549 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:40,560 Speaker 1: around the Internet saying that actually the Princess survived and 550 00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:44,400 Speaker 1: that a series of quote Da Vinci code like clues 551 00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:48,080 Speaker 1: reveal that Edward the Fifth escaped the tower to live 552 00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:52,480 Speaker 1: a private, secret life as a park ranger named John Evans. 553 00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:56,920 Speaker 1: In rural devon. Those da Vinci code like clues include 554 00:38:56,920 --> 00:39:00,120 Speaker 1: an effigy of John Evans having a small scar on 555 00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:03,400 Speaker 1: his chin that young Edward also might have had, and 556 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:06,080 Speaker 1: that Evans on one of the shields in the church 557 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:11,280 Speaker 1: is written as e V A S, which could stand 558 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:16,080 Speaker 1: for e V get it like Edward the Five, and 559 00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:19,839 Speaker 1: then a S, which they think might refer to the 560 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:24,800 Speaker 1: Latin word spelled a s A, which means sanctuary assa. 561 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:29,200 Speaker 1: The church also has a lot of Yorkist symbols throughout, 562 00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:33,399 Speaker 1: including a stained glass window depicting the young King Edward 563 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:36,360 Speaker 1: the Five with a bunch of deer nearby, which some 564 00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:39,239 Speaker 1: see as a clue because John Evans was a park 565 00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:44,320 Speaker 1: ranger on a deer estate. It's cool and fun in theory, 566 00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:49,200 Speaker 1: but again there is no actual proof. The Yorkist symbols 567 00:39:49,239 --> 00:39:51,840 Speaker 1: in the church are actually from early in the reign 568 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:54,160 Speaker 1: of Henry the Eighth, when there was a moment of 569 00:39:54,239 --> 00:39:58,279 Speaker 1: Yorkist reconciliation for the sake of unity. I guess for 570 00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:01,520 Speaker 1: me it's a question of which is more likely, one 571 00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:04,800 Speaker 1: that the princes managed to escape with no one writing 572 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:07,960 Speaker 1: or talking about it, or that Richard or Henry had 573 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:11,000 Speaker 1: had them safely moved away somewhere where they would have 574 00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:13,920 Speaker 1: been free to raise their own army or rally supporters 575 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:16,640 Speaker 1: behind them, and that they left behind a series of 576 00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:21,480 Speaker 1: elaborate riddles about it, or two that a guy named 577 00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:24,680 Speaker 1: John Evans got a job as a parker and also 578 00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:28,440 Speaker 1: a church had some Yorkist symbols during a period of reconciliation. 579 00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:33,520 Speaker 1: But fundamentally the mystery and all of the theories all 580 00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:36,400 Speaker 1: get to the heart of why the missing princes have 581 00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:41,560 Speaker 1: spawned such passionate debate. Because there are so many unknowns, 582 00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:45,239 Speaker 1: people love coming up with stories, and because it's such 583 00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:49,960 Speaker 1: a dramatic and bloody saga with so many suspects. With 584 00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:54,360 Speaker 1: these compelling innocent victims, people are going to keep coming 585 00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:57,799 Speaker 1: up with stories and will probably never be able to 586 00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:06,120 Speaker 1: prove anyone right or wrong with any absolute certainty. In 587 00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:10,000 Speaker 1: sixteen seventy four, when King Charles the Second was having 588 00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:13,719 Speaker 1: some renovations done to the Tower of London, two workmen 589 00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:17,960 Speaker 1: digging under a staircase found a wooden box which contained 590 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:23,520 Speaker 1: two small human skeletons. Because of the history written by More, 591 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:27,360 Speaker 1: it became widely assumed that the bodies were those of 592 00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:31,400 Speaker 1: the princes buried under the staircase, even though Moore's account 593 00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:34,200 Speaker 1: did say that the bodies were later moved after they 594 00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:38,680 Speaker 1: were buried there, still Charles the Second had the remains 595 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:43,560 Speaker 1: interred in a white marble sarcophagus in Westminster Abbey, giving 596 00:41:43,600 --> 00:41:47,120 Speaker 1: them the proper royal burial to which they were entitled. 597 00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:52,240 Speaker 1: Transcribed from the Latin, the inscription on their grave reads, 598 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:55,799 Speaker 1: here lie the relics of Edward, the fifth, King of 599 00:41:55,800 --> 00:42:00,000 Speaker 1: England and Richard, Duke of York. These brothers, being confined 600 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:03,600 Speaker 1: mind in the Tower of London, and they're stifled with pillows, 601 00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:07,520 Speaker 1: were privately and meanly buried by the order of their 602 00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:12,600 Speaker 1: perfidious uncle, Richard the Usurper, whose bones long inquired after 603 00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:16,120 Speaker 1: and wished for after one hundred and ninety one years, 604 00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:19,319 Speaker 1: in the rubbish of the stairs those lately leading to 605 00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:22,920 Speaker 1: the chapel of the White Tower, were on the seventeenth 606 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:28,640 Speaker 1: day of July six seventy four, by undoubted proofs discovered 607 00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:33,080 Speaker 1: being buried deep in that place. Charles the Second, a 608 00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:38,759 Speaker 1: most compassionate prince, pitying their severe fate, ordered these unhappy 609 00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:43,000 Speaker 1: princes to be laid amongst the monuments of their predecessors 610 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:46,359 Speaker 1: sixteen seventy eight, in the thirtieth year of his reign. 611 00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:53,160 Speaker 1: A little dramatic, but it communicates the message. In nineteen 612 00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:57,759 Speaker 1: thirty three, those remains were exhumed and re examined, and 613 00:42:57,840 --> 00:43:01,439 Speaker 1: studies confirmed that the bone ones within the tomb were 614 00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:05,800 Speaker 1: in fact the remains of two children of appropriate ages. 615 00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:12,360 Speaker 1: But that was three. The scientific methods used were shaky 616 00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:16,200 Speaker 1: at best, and there was of course no DNA testing. 617 00:43:17,120 --> 00:43:20,560 Speaker 1: The Church and Queen Elizabeth the Second have both made 618 00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:24,120 Speaker 1: their wishes clear that the bodies not be re exhumed 619 00:43:24,239 --> 00:43:27,799 Speaker 1: for DNA testing, imagining that it might be difficult to 620 00:43:27,840 --> 00:43:31,239 Speaker 1: come up with anything conclusive, that it would be destructive 621 00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:34,399 Speaker 1: to the bodies in Westminster Abbey, and that it would 622 00:43:34,400 --> 00:43:39,080 Speaker 1: set a bad precedence. Personally, I'm hoping that when Charles 623 00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:43,760 Speaker 1: becomes king he insists upon it, just out of sheer curiosity. 624 00:43:44,239 --> 00:43:47,040 Speaker 1: The truth is, the question of the murder of the 625 00:43:47,080 --> 00:43:50,800 Speaker 1: princes in the Tower has become such a contentious debate, 626 00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:54,440 Speaker 1: with so many people so deeply entrenched in their beliefs, 627 00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:57,880 Speaker 1: that I think even if the testing came back saying 628 00:43:57,920 --> 00:44:00,719 Speaker 1: those bodies were the princes, even if we had a 629 00:44:00,840 --> 00:44:05,000 Speaker 1: handwritten confession from someone found. I doubt the case would 630 00:44:05,040 --> 00:44:09,640 Speaker 1: actually be settled. There are stories to be told and 631 00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:20,600 Speaker 1: mysteries still to be explored. That's the story of Richard 632 00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:23,600 Speaker 1: the Third's rise to power. But keep listening after a 633 00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:26,520 Speaker 1: brief sponsor break to hear a little bit more about 634 00:44:26,680 --> 00:44:45,200 Speaker 1: Richard's more recent history. On September twelve, and incredible discovery 635 00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:49,200 Speaker 1: was made. The University of Lester, working with the amateur 636 00:44:49,239 --> 00:44:53,239 Speaker 1: historian Philippa Langley, announced that a skeleton that they had 637 00:44:53,239 --> 00:44:56,920 Speaker 1: found in a dig underneath a parking lot was quite 638 00:44:56,960 --> 00:45:03,000 Speaker 1: possibly the remains of Richard the Third. Subsequent DNA tests 639 00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:07,880 Speaker 1: confirmed it after hundreds of years, they had found Richard 640 00:45:07,920 --> 00:45:13,080 Speaker 1: the Third in a parking lot. Richard had been defeated 641 00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:16,359 Speaker 1: in battle and so his corpse was paraded around by 642 00:45:16,440 --> 00:45:20,320 Speaker 1: his enemies until he was finally buried quickly and without 643 00:45:20,320 --> 00:45:24,399 Speaker 1: a shroud or marker, near the choir of Greyfriars Church 644 00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:28,839 Speaker 1: in Leicester in four in a place of honor near 645 00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:33,000 Speaker 1: the front of the church, but with no pomp or ceremony. 646 00:45:33,280 --> 00:45:36,600 Speaker 1: During the dissolution of the monasteries under King Henry the Eighth, 647 00:45:37,239 --> 00:45:40,760 Speaker 1: Greyfriars Church was demolished and the sight of it became 648 00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:47,040 Speaker 1: lost over time until it wasn't. Through analysis of the skeleton, 649 00:45:47,239 --> 00:45:51,240 Speaker 1: they found that Richard the Third did have scoliosis, although 650 00:45:51,280 --> 00:45:54,239 Speaker 1: he wasn't the hunchback that Shakespeare made him out to be, 651 00:45:55,040 --> 00:45:57,600 Speaker 1: and they found out that he was most likely killed 652 00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:01,440 Speaker 1: by a violent halberd wounded to the exposed base of 653 00:46:01,520 --> 00:46:05,240 Speaker 1: his neck in battle that probably left his brain visible. 654 00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:11,880 Speaker 1: Richard the Third was reburied in Leicester Cathedral. Benedict Cumberbatch, 655 00:46:12,040 --> 00:46:14,759 Speaker 1: the actor who had played Richard in the television show 656 00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:19,560 Speaker 1: The Hollow Crown, was there to read a poem, It's 657 00:46:19,680 --> 00:46:22,480 Speaker 1: wild to imagine that a man can be a king 658 00:46:23,160 --> 00:46:26,799 Speaker 1: and still somehow get lost and end up beneath a 659 00:46:26,920 --> 00:46:31,120 Speaker 1: parking lot. They found him under an actual parking spot. 660 00:46:31,800 --> 00:46:35,400 Speaker 1: Richard the Third was under a spot that was reserved 661 00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:39,239 Speaker 1: and it had been painted just a few years earlier 662 00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:53,759 Speaker 1: with the letter are Noble Blood is a production of 663 00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:56,879 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Minky. 664 00:46:57,239 --> 00:47:00,600 Speaker 1: The show was written and hosted by Dana Schwartz. Executive 665 00:47:00,640 --> 00:47:05,719 Speaker 1: producers include Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. The 666 00:47:05,719 --> 00:47:08,839 Speaker 1: show is produced by rema Ill Kali, and Trevor Young. 667 00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:12,520 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is on social media at Noble Blood Tales, 668 00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:14,640 Speaker 1: and you can learn more about the show over at 669 00:47:14,680 --> 00:47:17,640 Speaker 1: Noble blood Tales dot com. For more podcasts from I 670 00:47:17,719 --> 00:47:21,319 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 671 00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:25,040 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. M