dward V (1470-83), king of England, son of Edward IV, was born at Westminster, and succeeded to the throne at the age of thirteen. The story of his life is brief and tragic. While on his way to London, his father’s brother Richard, duke of Gloucester, obtained possession of his person at Northampton, and brought him to the capital (May 1483). Toward the end of the same month Richard was appointed protector of the kingdom. In June the young duke of York, Edward V’s brother, also fell into his hands. The two hapless boys were then removed to the Tower, and were never more heard of. In 1674 some bones were discovered below the stairs which led to the White Tower chapel, and were reinterred as the remains of the two Princes in Westminster Abbey. [World Wide Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1935]

Edward V (1470-83), short-lived, uncrowned king of England (1483), the second of the house of York. Born at Westminster, the eldest son of King Edward IV, he was created Prince of Wales in 1471. As a result of the power struggle between his paternal uncle Richard, duke of Gloucester, and his maternal uncle Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, both Edward and his brother, Richard, duke of York, were confined in the Tower of London shortly after their father's death in April 1483. They were not seen again outside the tower. Because the duke of Gloucester had them declared bastards and usurped the throne as Richard III in June 1483, it is reasonable to suppose that he had them assassinated. No circumstantial evidence exists, however. It is possible, for instance, that they survived Richard and were later slain by his successor, Henry VII of the house of Tudor, to whose title they would have been a threat. The belief that Richard instigated their murder was advanced by Tudor historians. [Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia]

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