Edward IV of England dies on April 9, 1483, a few weeks short of his forty-first birthday, leaving two young sons.
The twelve-year-old Prince of Wales, brought to London to the protection of his mother, Elizabeth Woodville, succeeds his father as Edward V. His uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, with the support of William, Lord Hastings, and Henry Stafford, second duke of Buckingham—who, though maried to a Woodville, opposes Elizabeth in her attempt to become regent to her son—serves as regent and self-proclaimed Protector of the Realm.
Richard induces the unpopular queen to surrender Edward and his younger brother, Richard, duke of York, and installs them in the Tower of London.
Parliament, at Richard’s instigation, on June 25 declares Edward's marriage to Elizabeth invalid and the boys therefore illegitimate.
Gloucester is on July 25 proclaimed King Richard III, and Edward and his brother disappear soon thereafter: probably murdered, many believe, on the orders of their uncle.
The reports of the alleged murder of the young princes, together with Richard’s lack of a son, weaken his position as king.
Buckingham, although amply rewarded by Richard for his backing, mysteriously rebels against him in October 1483, and, together with other disaffected supporters, throws his support to Henry Tudor, the latest Lancastrian claimant to the English throne.
Floods prevent Buckingham’s army from joining others in the revolt, and Buckingham is forced into hiding.
The fugitive Buckingham, betrayed, is tried and beheaded before the end of 1483.
In the ensuing struggle for power, King Richard III has many more of his opponents—including another onetime ally, Hastings—executed.
