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Express Tribune
21-07-2025
- Express Tribune
Richard III may not have been a child killer after all
It is one of history's most intriguing "murders" – the mysterious disappearance over five centuries ago of two young princes from the Tower of London. Nearly 200 years after they disappeared, two small skeletons were found in a wooden box at the historic tower and reburied at Westminster Abbey. The remains were believed, but never proved, to be those of the two brothers – heir to the throne Edward, 12, and Richard, nine, the sons of King Edward IV of England, who were reputedly murdered at the behest of their uncle, Richard Duke of Gloucester. William Shakespeare later immortalised him in Richard III as a scheming hunchback who did away with his royal nephews so he could take the crown himself, sealing his reputation as a child killer. Now British author Philippa Langley, who helped unearth Richard's body from a central England carpark in 2012, has claimed that the princes – far from being killed – actually survived. The elder prince, Edward, was heir to the throne at the time of his disappearance and would have ruled as King Edward V of England. Langley decided to delve into the mystery after coming to believe that the conventional narrative in which Richard had the young princes killed smacked of "history being written by the victors". She was finally spurred into action after reading an article about Richard's reburial at Leicester Cathedral in 2015 which questioned whether the nation should honour a "child killer". "I think I'd always realised that the story sort of developed during the reign of the Tudors," she said, adding that it was then "repeated and repeated over time" until it became "truth and fact". The last English king to die in battle, Richard ruled from 1483 until his brutal death at the Battle of Bosworth near Leicester in 1485, aged 32. Bosworth was the last major conflict in the Wars of the Roses and changed the course of English history because the Tudor dynasty of Henry VII captured the crown from Richard's Plantagenets. Langley attributes the accepted story that Richard had the boys murdered to King Henry VII, a "very, very intelligent individual, but suspicious and highly paranoid". Tudor mud "He had a massive spy network working for him. And he was able to completely control the narrative," she said, adding that Richard ended up "covered in Tudor mud". Taking a cold case review approach to the historical "whodunnit", Langley says she assembled a group of investigative specialists, including police and lawyers, to advise her. "They said: 'Look, if you haven't got any confirmed, identified bodies, then it has to be a missing persons investigation and you have to follow that methodology'. "They said: 'You have to actively look for evidence'. That's when it really started to get interesting." Langley put out an appeal for volunteers to scour archives, only to be inundated with offers of help from people ranging from ordinary citizens to medieval historians. The result was the decade-long Missing Princes Project which she says unearthed a significant amount of information pointing to the survival of both young princes. Langley now believes that it is up to Richard's detractors to disprove the survival thesis, which she outlines in the new book The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case. "The onus is now on them to find the evidence that the boys died. They cannot say Richard III murdered the princes in the tower any more because we found numerous proofs of life everywhere," she said. Key to Langley's conviction that both boys survived are documents discovered supporting a rebellion by "Edward IV's son". During the rebellion in 1487, Lambert Simnel, a pretender to the throne who came forward after Richard's death, was crowned in Dublin. According to fresh references found by the project, the boy was "called" or said to be "a son of King Edward", which she believes points to Simnel being the elder prince, son of Edward IV.
Kuwait Times
19-07-2025
- General
- Kuwait Times
UK ‘princes in the tower' murder probe clears Richard III
It is one of history's most intriguing 'murders' -- the mysterious disappearance over five centuries ago of two young princes from the Tower of London. Nearly 200 years after they disappeared, two small skeletons were found in a wooden box at the historic tower and reburied at Westminster Abbey. The remains were believed, but never proved, to be those of the two brothers -- heir to the throne Edward, 12, and Richard, nine, the sons of King Edward IV of England, who were reputedly murdered at the behest of their uncle, Richard Duke of Gloucester. William Shakespeare later immortalized him in Richard III as a scheming hunchback who did away with his royal nephews so he could take the crown himself, sealing his reputation as a child killer. Now British author Philippa Langley, who helped unearth Richard's body from a central England carpark in 2012, has claimed that the princes -- far from being killed -- actually survived. The elder prince, Edward, was heir to the throne at the time of his disappearance and would have ruled as King Edward V of England. Langley decided to delve into the mystery after coming to believe that the conventional narrative in which Richard had the young princes killed smacked of 'history being written by the victors'. She was finally spurred into action after reading an article about Richard's reburial at Leicester Cathedral in 2015 which questioned whether the nation should honor a 'child killer'. 'I think I'd always realized that the story sort of developed during the reign of the Tudors,' she said, adding that it was then 'repeated and repeated over time' until it became 'truth and fact'. An undated handout picture released on February 4, 2013 from the University of Leicester shows the skeleton of king Richard III found at the Grey Friars Church excavation site in Leicester. --AFP photos An Uber boat passes The Tower of London on The River Thames under a cloudy sky in London. Tudor mud The last English king to die in battle, Richard ruled from 1483 until his brutal death at the Battle of Bosworth near Leicester in 1485, aged 32. Bosworth was the last major conflict in the Wars of the Roses and changed the course of English history because the Tudor dynasty of Henry VII captured the crown from Richard's Plantagenets. Langley attributes the accepted story that Richard had the boys murdered to King Henry VII, a 'very, very intelligent individual, but suspicious and highly paranoid'. 'He had a massive spy network working for him. And he was able to completely control the narrative,' she said, adding that Richard ended up 'covered in Tudor mud'. Taking a cold case review approach to the historical 'whodunnit', Langley says she assembled a group of investigative specialists, including police and lawyers, to advise her. 'They said: 'Look, if you haven't got any confirmed, identified bodies, then it has to be a missing persons investigation and you have to follow that methodology'. 'They said: 'You have to actively look for evidence'. That's when it really started to get interesting.' Langley put out an appeal for volunteers to scour archives, only to be inundated with offers of help from people ranging from ordinary citizens to medieval historians. The result was the decade-long Missing Princes Project which she says unearthed a significant amount of information pointing to the survival of both young princes. Survival theory Langley now believes that it is up to Richard's detractors to disprove the survival thesis, which she outlines in the new book 'The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case'. 'The onus is now on them to find the evidence that the boys died. 'They cannot say Richard III murdered the princes in the tower any more because we found numerous proofs of life everywhere,' she said. Key to Langley's conviction that both boys survived are documents discovered supporting a rebellion by 'Edward IV's son'. During the rebellion in 1487, Lambert Simnel, a pretender to the throne who came forward after Richard's death, was crowned in Dublin. According to fresh references found by the project, the boy was 'called' or said to be 'a son of King Edward', which she believes points to Simnel being the elder prince, son of Edward IV. The reaction to Langley's research has been mixed. Michael Dobson, director and a professor of Shakespeare studies at the University of Birmingham's Shakespeare Institute, expressed scepticism. 'Given the ways of dynastic monarchy, I think Richard would have been taking a very big risk in leaving those princes alive,' he said. 'The chances of their having accidentally gone missing while incarcerated on his orders in the Tower of London seem pretty remote.' — AFP
NZ Herald
18-07-2025
- General
- NZ Herald
New book questions Richard III's role in princes' disappearance, claims survival
The elder prince, Edward, was heir to the throne at the time of his disappearance and would have ruled as King Edward V of England. Langley decided to delve into the mystery after coming to believe that the conventional narrative in which Richard had the young princes killed smacked of 'history being written by the victors'. She was finally spurred into action after reading an article about Richard's reburial at Leicester Cathedral in 2015 which questioned whether the nation should honour a 'child killer'. 'I think I'd always realised that the story sort of developed during the reign of the Tudors,' she said, adding that it was then 'repeated and repeated over time' until it became 'truth and fact'. The last English king to die in battle, Richard ruled from 1483 until his brutal death at the Battle of Bosworth near Leicester in 1485, aged 32. Bosworth was the last major conflict in the Wars of the Roses and changed the course of English history because the Tudor dynasty of Henry VII captured the crown from Richard's Plantagenets. Langley attributes the accepted story that Richard had the boys murdered to King Henry VII, a 'very, very intelligent individual, but suspicious and highly paranoid'. 'He had a massive spy network working for him. And he was able to completely control the narrative,' she said, adding that Richard ended up 'covered in Tudor mud'. Taking a cold case review approach to the historical 'whodunnit', Langley says she assembled a group of investigative specialists, including police and lawyers, to advise her. 'They said: 'Look, if you haven't got any confirmed, identified bodies, then it has to be a missing persons investigation and you have to follow that methodology'. 'They said: 'You have to actively look for evidence'. That's when it really started to get interesting.' An undated handout picture released on February 4, 2013 from the University of Leicester shows the skeleton of king Richard III found at the Grey Friars Church excavation site in Leicester. Photo / AFP Langley put out an appeal for volunteers to scour archives, only to be inundated with offers of help from people ranging from ordinary citizens to medieval historians. The result was the decade-long Missing Princes Project which she says unearthed a significant amount of information pointing to the survival of both young princes. Langley now believes that it is up to Richard's detractors to disprove the survival thesis, which she outlines in the new book The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case. 'The onus is now on them to find the evidence that the boys died. 'They cannot say Richard III murdered the princes in the tower any more because we found numerous proofs of life everywhere,' she said. Key to Langley's conviction that both boys survived are documents discovered supporting a rebellion by 'Edward IV's son'. During the rebellion in 1487, Lambert Simnel, a pretender to the throne who came forward after Richard's death, was crowned in Dublin. According to fresh references found by the project, the boy was 'called' or said to be 'a son of King Edward', which she believes points to Simnel being the elder prince, son of Edward IV. The reaction to Langley's research has been mixed. Michael Dobson, director and a professor of Shakespeare studies at the University of Birmingham's Shakespeare Institute, expressed scepticism. 'Given the ways of dynastic monarchy, I think Richard would have been taking a very big risk in leaving those princes alive,' he said. 'The chances of their having accidentally gone missing while incarcerated on his orders in the Tower of London seem pretty remote.' -Agence France-Presse
Int'l Business Times
18-07-2025
- General
- Int'l Business Times
UK 'Princes In The Tower' Murder Probe Clears Richard III
It is one of history's most intriguing "murders" -- the mysterious disappearance over five centuries ago of two young princes from the Tower of London. Nearly 200 years after they disappeared, two small skeletons were found in a wooden box at the historic tower and reburied at Westminster Abbey. The remains were believed, but never proved, to be those of the two brothers -- heir to the throne Edward, 12, and Richard, nine, the sons of King Edward IV of England, who were reputedly murdered at the behest of their uncle, Richard Duke of Gloucester. William Shakespeare later immortalised him in Richard III as a scheming hunchback who did away with his royal nephews so he could take the crown himself, sealing his reputation as a child killer. Now British author Philippa Langley, who helped unearth Richard's body from a central England carpark in 2012, has claimed that the princes -- far from being killed -- actually survived. The elder prince, Edward, was heir to the throne at the time of his disappearance and would have ruled as King Edward V of England. Langley decided to delve into the mystery after coming to believe that the conventional narrative in which Richard had the young princes killed smacked of "history being written by the victors". She was finally spurred into action after reading an article about Richard's reburial at Leicester Cathedral in 2015 which questioned whether the nation should honour a "child killer". "I think I'd always realised that the story sort of developed during the reign of the Tudors," she said, adding that it was then "repeated and repeated over time" until it became "truth and fact". The last English king to die in battle, Richard ruled from 1483 until his brutal death at the Battle of Bosworth near Leicester in 1485, aged 32. Bosworth was the last major conflict in the Wars of the Roses and changed the course of English history because the Tudor dynasty of Henry VII captured the crown from Richard's Plantagenets. Langley attributes the accepted story that Richard had the boys murdered to King Henry VII, a "very, very intelligent individual, but suspicious and highly paranoid". "He had a massive spy network working for him. And he was able to completely control the narrative," she said, adding that Richard ended up "covered in Tudor mud". Taking a cold case review approach to the historical "whodunnit", Langley says she assembled a group of investigative specialists, including police and lawyers, to advise her. "They said: 'Look, if you haven't got any confirmed, identified bodies, then it has to be a missing persons investigation and you have to follow that methodology'. "They said: 'You have to actively look for evidence'. That's when it really started to get interesting." Langley put out an appeal for volunteers to scour archives, only to be inundated with offers of help from people ranging from ordinary citizens to medieval historians. The result was the decade-long Missing Princes Project which she says unearthed a significant amount of information pointing to the survival of both young princes. Langley now believes that it is up to Richard's detractors to disprove the survival thesis, which she outlines in the new book "The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case". "The onus is now on them to find the evidence that the boys died. "They cannot say Richard III murdered the princes in the tower any more because we found numerous proofs of life everywhere," she said. Key to Langley's conviction that both boys survived are documents discovered supporting a rebellion by "Edward IV's son". During the rebellion in 1487, Lambert Simnel, a pretender to the throne who came forward after Richard's death, was crowned in Dublin. According to fresh references found by the project, the boy was "called" or said to be "a son of King Edward", which she believes points to Simnel being the elder prince, son of Edward IV. The reaction to Langley's research has been mixed. Michael Dobson, director and a professor of Shakespeare studies at the University of Birmingham's Shakespeare Institute, expressed scepticism. "Given the ways of dynastic monarchy, I think Richard would have been taking a very big risk in leaving those princes alive," he said. "The chances of their having accidentally gone missing while incarcerated on his orders in the Tower of London seem pretty remote." Yeoman Warder Ravenmaster Chris Skaife at the Tower of London, where the young princes were imprisoned AFP Langley says there is evidence the princes were not murdered by their uncle, Richard III AFP
South Wales Guardian
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
Derwydd Mansion in Carmarthenshire for sale for £1.8 million
The 14-bedroom Derwydd Mansion, located in Llandybie, Ammanford, is being offered for sale by estate agents Morgan Carpenter. The estate includes eight bathrooms, 10 reception rooms, and a separate garden cottage, all set within approximately eight acres of land. The mansion is believed to have been a haven for Henry Tudor on his way to challenge Richard III for the crown. Derwydd Mansion is one of Carmarthenshire's oldest private mansion houses, first appearing in history books in 1485. It was once owned by Tudor Knight Sir Rhys ap Thomas, who reportedly provided Henry Tudor with 5,000 Welsh soldiers who marched with him to victory at the Battle of Bosworth. This historical connection is commemorated in a sculpture of a shield in the mansion's King's Room. The property is a Grade II* listed building, with several itemised internal and external features that are individually listed. (Image: Zoopla) (Image: Zoopla) (Image: Zoopla) (Image: Zoopla) (Image: Zoopla) (Image: Zoopla) These include stained glass windows in the entrance hallway, oak fireplaces, and intricate plasterwork in the study and family room. The property also boasts a walled garden and gazebo. The estate agents emphasise that the mansion has remained in private ownership throughout its history, with the current owners having undertaken significant refurbishment. They have used the property as a successful wedding venue, a set for a Hollywood film production, and a holiday complex. This history suggests that the mansion has potential for a variety of uses, subject to obtaining the appropriate consents. The estate agents suggest that the property could be a versatile multigenerational family home or a commercial enterprise. They highlight that the mansion will include all the original contents and artefacts to ensure a smooth move for the new owners. This includes items such as the stained glass windows, oak fireplaces, and the sculpture in the King's Room. The estate agents also note that the property is freehold and that vacant possession will be given on completion. Prospective buyers are invited to book an appointment to view the property. For more information or to arrange a viewing, contact Morgan Carpenter at their Ammanford office on 01554 550194.
