Elizabeth Woodville - Queen Mother

Queen Mother

Following Edward's sudden death, possibly from pneumonia, in April 1483, Elizabeth briefly became Queen Mother as her son, Edward became king, with his uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester acting as Lord Protector. Fearing the Woodvilles would attempt to seize power, Richard quickly moved to take control of the young king and had Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers and Richard Grey, brother and son to Queen Elizabeth arrested and beheaded. The young king was transferred to the Tower of London to await the Coronation. With her daughters, Elizabeth again sought sanctuary and conspired against the Lord Protector with Baron Hastings, who was subsequently also beheaded.

Richard now moved to take the throne himself and on 25 June 1483, an act of parliament, the Titulus Regius (1 Ric. 3) declared Edward's and Elizabeth's children illegitimate on the grounds that Edward had made a previous promise (known as a precontract) to marry Lady Eleanor Butler, which was considered a legally binding contract that rendered any other marriage contract invalid. One source, the Burgundian chronicler Philippe de Commines, claims that Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells, carried out the ceremony between Edward and Eleanor. The act also contained charges of witchcraft against Elizabeth, but gave no details and had no further repercussions. As a consequence, the Duke of Gloucester became King Richard III. Young Edward and his brother Richard, Duke of York, remained in the Tower of London. The exact fate of the so-called Princes in the Tower has been long debated; whether they died, disappeared, or were murdered is still unknown.