Picture this: it’s 1483. Edward V is just 12 years old, and his little brother Richard of Shrewsbury is 9. They’re the VIPs of England—literally heirs to the throne. But before Edward can even order his first royal pizza, their scheming uncle, Richard III, grabs power and locks the lads in the Tower of London.
Now, the Tower wasn’t a dank dungeon at the time—it was basically a five-star royal hotel with guards. But still, the boys disappeared from public view by the summer of 1483. Gone. Kaput. History’s most annoying cliffhanger.
And here’s the kicker: nobody knows for sure what happened to them. It’s the O.J. Simpson case of the 15th century, minus the white Bronco and plus a lot of velvet.
Uncle Dickie: Hero or Villain?
Let’s talk about the main suspect: Richard III. He’s the guy with the twisted spine (actually, he had scoliosis—not a hunchback, by the way. Thanks, Shakespeare, for the PR disaster). Richard was either the world’s worst uncle or a deeply misunderstood ruler who just wanted a quiet life without sticky-fingered nephews stealing his snacks.
Fact: Richard had the boys declared illegitimate by a dodgy priest. Then he crowned himself king. Convenient, right? But here’s the wild part: no one saw the princes die. It’s like they walked into the Tower and entered a parallel universe where Netflix hasn’t been invented yet.
Historians love to argue. Some say Richard suffocated them with pillows. Others whisper that his rival, Henry Tudor, did the deed after he stole the crown in 1485. And a few crackpots claim one prince escaped and became a baker in Belgium. (Okay, I made that last one up, but wouldn’t it be delightful?)
The Princes in the Tower – Everything Everywhere
