The princes of the Tower of London: a mystery soon to be solved?

Is the famous mystery of two princes missing from the Tower of London about to be solved? One of the most intriguing enigmas in England's history may soon be no more. Let's review different explanations for their demise.

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The two princes in question, Edward and Richard, were the nephews of King Richard III. As the most common version of their story holds, Richard III declared them illegitimate to succeed him and had them assassinated in 1483.

The disappearance of the two princes, then 12 and 9 years of age, is considered 'The Greatest Cold Case in History,' historian Philippa Langley states.

Their dark story inspired Shakespeare to write his play 'Richard III'. There are also certain elements of it in the storyline of the series 'Game of Thrones'.

But is this really what happened? The French magazine Géo states that new findings have recently sowed doubt about the alleged double assassination ordered by the monarch.

Image: Nick Fewings / Unsplash

Indeed, DNA analysis of the remains of the two princes may allow us to learn more about the circumstances of their lives and deaths.

Image: Warren Umoh / Unsplash

As Géo indicates, the boys' remains were kept under the stairs of the Tower of London before being moved to the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey in the 17th century.

Image: Amy-Leigh Barnard / Unsplash

However, the matter is not so simple. Indeed, as Géo also notes, the Church of England has repeatedly refused to allow forensic tests to be carried out on the remains.

Image: Jack Lucas Smith / Unsplash

The controversial figure of Richard III therefore remains shrouded in mystery. The Richard III Society requested to carry out forensic tests in order to rehabilitate his memory.

As its website indicates, the organization has sought for nearly a century to "promote, by all possible means, research into the life and times of Richard III", deeming the evidence for the 'black legend of Richard III' insufficient.

Research into the infamous monarch leaped forward in 2012 when the sovereign's remains were found in Leicester as part of the 'Looking for Richard' project, supported by the Richard III Society.

"Historical research is punctuated by preconceived ideas that need to be deconstructed," wrote Philippa Langley in National Geographic. A writer and historian, she was at the origin of the discovery in 2012.

However, her position goes against mainstream thinking in Great Britain. In 2015, the Daily Mail wrote, for example, that Richard III had been "one of the most evil and detestable tyrants this Earth has ever had" and that it was "insane" to want to make him a hero.

Since 2015, Langley has led the 'Missing Princes' project, which has put forward many alternative hypotheses about the fate of Richard's nephews.

Investigations carried out over several years convinced Philippa Langley that the two princes survived their imprisonment. Their 'disappearance from the Tower' would have been due to an escape instead of death.

According to archival documents analyzed by the researcher, they lived under the false identities of Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel, two men whose existence is proven and who were said to pose as princes.

According to the documents, the two princes would have tried in vain to regain the throne of England.

The hypothesis is that the young Prince Richard raised an army to try to recover the crown before being captured and hanged in 1499.

Edward, for his part, lost the Battle of Stoke Field against the forces of Henry VII in 1487.

Image: Mark Stuckey / Unsplash

So what is the truth? Is the story of the assassination of the two boys just an invention? According to Philippa Langley, the legend of the two princes in the Tower of London was the fruit of the imagination of a courtier of King Henry VIII.

Will we soon have definitive proof of what happened to the two Princes of the Tower of London? Even as we move towards greater clarity little by little, the mystery remains thrilling...

Image: Gavin Allanwood / Unsplash

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