Royal weddings are now major celebrations, glittering events that capture the imagination and draw huge crowds who cheer the vows and shout demands for a kiss when the deal is done. However, in centuries past a royal union might be a discreet event, witnessed by just a handful of people. And for that reason, rumours were able to grow of secret weddings, hidden spouses and possible threats to…
A giant of a king, literally, standing in excess of six feet and three inches Edward reigned over what has to be described as one of the most pivotal and tempestuous times of medieval monarchy. If not the hardest fight to be and remain king, Edward was no stranger to the…
The White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster had been in battle for the throne of England for quite some time. At the time of the Battle of Tewkesbury the Yorkists were being led by Edward of York, or Edward IV and the Lancastrians were being led by Margaret of…
We have seen so far how Shakespeare has collated various rumours and fabrications to construct a villain in his King Richard III who is a murderer, cold blooded and willing to admit his vicious deeds. We have seen how the foundations were laid for a man capable of killing a young prince in Edward of Westminster. Add to this the killing of a king, Henry VI and there remains only one piece of the…
On 22nd August 1485 King Richard III led a thunderous charge of cavalry across the field at the Battle of Bosworth in an attempt to crush Henry Tudor, the invader who laid claim to Richard’s throne. Unlike the presentation given by The White Queen, it was not a dozen men…
On 21st May 1471, 17 days after Tewkesbury, King Henry VI died in the Tower of London. On that same day King Edward IV returned to London in triumph. The White Queen showed us one version of this event, but it did not sit well with the source material available. The…
King Henry VI, who contested the Wars of the Roses, in spirit at least, with King Edward IV had only one child, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. In 1469, the Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker, had rebelled against King Edward IV with the king’s brother George. In need of support, Warwick allied himself with Henry VI’s wife, Margaret of Anjou, in France and planned an invasion to…
