Cold Case Reopened: The Princes in the Tower

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Book: Read Cold Case Reopened: The Princes in the Tower for Free Online
Authors: Mark Garber
the Princes is that they were sealed in a room and starved to death.
    The most credible other theory about the bodies of the princes comes from 1789. Workmen in St George's Chapel accidentally broke into the vault of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville while repairing a sunken floor. A large lead coffin was seen with the remains of a wooden one on top - Edward and Elizabeth lying for eternity together. A discovery was made of a sub vault to the main vault. Within the vault were two more coffins. The workmen noted that the inscription above the sub vault stated George, Duke of Bedford and Mary of York. These were children of Edward and Elizabeth. George had died aged just two and Mary at 14. The vault was sealed again without further investigation.
    However, during the excavations for the tomb of George III between 1810 and 1813 a strange discovery was made - two coffins. One bore the inscription “serenissimus princeps Georgius filius tercius Christianissimi principis Edvardi iiij”, indicating that this was in fact the coffin of George. We know from the burial records that Mary was “buried by my Lorde George, her brother.” There are suggestions that Mary's coffin was opened and a lock of hair removed, hence we can assume that it was Mary's body inside the second coffin. The coffins were both moved to the vault of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. Of course, the mysterious coffins discovered twenty years earlier were still there. These mystery coffins were never examined and the Edward IV vault was resealed.  
    So the question that must be answered is: who is buried in that sub vault?
    St George's Chapel is not a public graveyard, and bodies are not buried there on a regular basis. It would be highly unlikely that burials had been made without a record being made. A detailed look at the burial records actually shows that despite the inscription above the sub vault there was no way that George and Mary could be buried there as this area of the chapel had not been completed at the time of their deaths. The sub vault was probably placed there with the intention to move the coffins, so the children could be with the parents.
    There is a possibility that an error was made at some point and the incorrect coffins have been moved. However, there is no record that any coffins had been moved into the Edward IV vault.
    The other possibility is that these coffins contain the remains of the princes. Let us move away from fact for a moment and suggest in our minds that these coffins do contain the bodies of the princes. What better place to hide bodies than in a vault? Even better, bury them in a royal vault, in the middle of a royal palace. People simply do not go breaking into royal vaults. The bodies would be hidden for an eternity. The location is significant, as it would suggest that whoever had placed the bodies there was attempting, in some small way, to re-address the boys' deaths by burying them alongside their father. Does this mean that Richard III was responsible and that old loyalty to his elder brother was suddenly coming out again?
    There is of course an issue. Whoever had laid the bodies to rest would have been aware that Elizabeth Woodville had yet to die and the vault would be opened again at her death. Would it be a risk that an investigation be undertaken if the two mysterious coffins were spotted? Elizabeth Woodville's funeral took place on the 12 th June 1492. At this time Henry Tudor was firmly on the throne. All her surviving children attended the funeral, apart from Elizabeth of York who was in confinement about to give birth to another royal child. There is no suggestion that anyone raised any concerns about the contents of the vaults.
    Therefore, all we can be sure of is that these coffins were placed in the vault sometime between 20 th April 1483 and 1789.
    Further investigation would be required to determine anything further than this. Again, there is next to zero chance that any permission would be given

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