On the Trail of King Richard III. L. M. Ollie
‘You mean no one told him?’
‘Exactly and I’ll tell you why in a minute. In his will, King Edward named Richard sole protector of his children and the realm. This implied that Richard would govern the kingdom while the young King Edward the Fifth was a minor and that both boys would be his responsibility. It shows you the measure of trust that Edward placed in his brother.’
‘He'll be sorry,’ Gail said in a voice heavy with prophecy.
‘He wasn't sorry; he was dead. Shuffled off the mortal coil he did, leaving one hell of a mess behind. A Protectorate was unacceptable to the Queen who reasoned that if her son was crowned immediately then she and her family could rule in his name. Richard Gloucester, as we both know, had other ideas.
‘Young Edward was at Ludlow castle where he maintained a household as befitting the Prince of Wales. On the 14th of April, his uncle and Governor Anthony Wydville, Earl Rivers, told the boy of his father's death. The Queen immediately made arrangements for his safe conduct to London, originally planning to send a sizeable entourage. Lord Hastings, sensing trouble, insisted on only a small force which the Queen finally agreed on.
‘Lord Hastings was in London at the time of the King's death and had attended Council meetings. It soon became obvious to him that the Wydvilles planned to exclude Richard from any voice in government. Hastings hated the Wydvilles with a passion and the feeling was mutual. When he realised that they had intentionally not told Richard of his brother's death, Hastings sent word to him, giving him the bad news and suggesting that he make haste to secure his position as Protector. He suggested too that he should take young Edward into his protection and authority before the boy reached London.
‘Richard must have received Hastings’ letter with alarm. Young Edward had been raised and tutored by his mother's family. Richard must have realised that a Wydville-dominated Council, ruling on behalf of a child-king, would be a disaster for him and the country. He had to act immediately or risk the possible loss of all his wealth and power. He may well have believed too that his political and personal survival depended upon swift and decisive action.
‘He arrived in York around the 21st of April with a sizeable retinue of Northerners, all dressed in deepest black. He attended a funeral Mass for the dead King and then swore an oath of fealty to the young King Edward the Fifth. From York he moved rapidly south to Nottingham where he met with an agent of the Duke of Buckingham.
‘Now, Henry Stafford, second Duke of Buckingham, was one of the foremost peers of the realm with impeccable bloodlines. His loyalty lay historically with the House of Lancaster, but since he was only a kid when Edward the Fourth took the throne, he was too young to appreciate the significance. While still a minor he was put into the care of Elizabeth Wydville, an arrangement he hated, since he viewed the Queen and her family as upstarts. At eleven he was forced to marry the Queen's sister, Katherine Wydville. Buckingham was about two years younger than Richard, I think, which would mean he would be in his late twenties at this time, and I might add, the father of a healthy young son despite the fact that he supposedly loathed his wife. Interesting character is our Buckingham.
‘Anyhow, Richard sent him an urgent note soliciting his help and support. For Buckingham it was an ideal opportunity to not only crush the hated Wydvilles, but once Richard was helped into power, Buckingham felt sure he could successfully lay claim to estates he felt were his by right. Buckingham agreed to meet Richard at Northampton.
‘Richard then wrote to the young king asking what route was being planned for his journey to London. He suggested that it would be really nice if Edward could join him and the Duke of Buckingham at Northampton and together they could enter London in triumph. What a great idea.’
Gail chuckled.
‘Rivers was either politically naive, unaware of the danger or just plain stupid, because he agreed. I don't know what his problem was, but after learning of the King’s death, Rivers stayed on at Ludlow for several more days before setting out for London. Richard made good use of the delay to position himself on the board.
‘Just as Edward entered Northampton, Rivers’ half-brother Sir Richard Grey arrived from London. Obviously more politically astute, Grey promptly escorted the boy fourteen miles south to Stony Stratford before returning with Rivers and a small detachment of men. Richard and Buckingham arrived only to find that all they had in their net was Grey and Rivers. It was too late in the day to do anything so the Dukes invited Rivers to join them for dinner. Rivers may well have told Richard and Buckingham everything about the Queen’s plans, the rulings in Council, the fact that Richard would be denied all power. It is doubtful if this was news to Richard. His spy network had been working overtime. Rivers went happily to bed only to wake up, locked in his room under heavy guard.
‘At dawn, both dukes set out for Stony Stratford with Grey in tow. The young King was unaware of Rivers’ arrest and greeted his two uncles joyously. Richard greeted his young sovereign with all the usual show of respect, giving no hint whatsoever of his true intentions. If Richard was the dissembler he was said to have been, he must have put on a very convincing performance. Gradually, however, he began to pry Edward free of his retinue, suggesting that the young king was surrounded by men of dubious moral character, low bred and even went so far as to accuse them of trying to deprive him of the office of Protector which had been conferred on him by the late King. Richard even hinted at plots to murder him and finally broke the news of Rivers' arrest. Edward was stunned. He defended his uncle but Richard remained firm, insisting that he and only he knew what was best for the young king, and for England.
‘When Grey tried to intervene, a quarrel ensued. Richard had Grey arrested along with Sir Thomas Vaughan who was the young king’s Chamberlain and close companion and Sir Richard Haute, a distant relation, councillor and loyal friend. The arrests were probably made in Edward's presence. Bereft of those closest to him, Edward stood helpless now as Richard dismissed the two thousand men who made up the royal retinue.’
‘I'm surprised that he was able to do that.’
‘I agree. Richard hadn’t been officially declared Protector yet, so technically speaking, everything he had done so far was illegal; acts of tyranny if you like, but let's face it, if you were a soldier assigned to accompany the young king and someone as powerful as the Duke of Gloucester told you to shove off home, what would you do?’
‘Shove off home,’ Gail said, nodding her head.
‘Right, and quickly too, I bet. Richard and Buckingham then returned to Northampton with the king and their prisoners firmly in hand. I doubt if Edward was allowed to see Rivers. Richard spent the rest of the day writing to the Council and the Lord Mayor of London explaining the situation, and assuring them that the young king was now in good hands, rescued as it were from the very jaws of perdition. It would be interesting to know what young Edward thought. Chances are that he was more then a little apprehensive. He didn't know his Uncle of Gloucester very well and what he did know had been told to him by the Wydvilles. Certainly Richard's actions lately would hardly have endeared him to the boy.
‘When the news reached London, there was pandemonium. The Queen, with the help of her son Dorset, fled to sanctuary at Westminster after first dividing up the royal treasure. Now Edward the Fourth had dabbled in the lowly business of trade, and had acquired a tidy little fortune. In fact, he was one of the few kings who died solvent; downright rich actually.
‘Naturally, the Queen had her daughters with her and her other son, Richard, Duke of York. She took over the Abbot's house; apparently doing some damage while moving in all her personal affects. I bet the Abbot was super pleased. Archbishop Rotherham of York arrived soon after the Queen entered sanctuary and gave her the Great Seal of England which he held as Lord Chancellor.
‘People milled about the streets of London, talking, speculating and some even went so far as to don armour, rallying to the Queen's cause. Mancini wrote that there was current in the capital a sinister rumour that the Duke had brought his nephew not under his