Richard III of England

On July 6, 1483, Richard III was crowned King of England after deposing Edward V. An excerpt from the article:

"The Princes in the Tower

Edward IV turned out to be rather too fond of his favourite foods and wines as he reached middle age, and he became seriously overweight. The king died, perhaps of a stroke, at Westminster on 9 April 1483 CE, aged just 40. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward, then only 12 years old (b. 1470 CE). Too young to rule on his own, Edward IV had already nominated his regent, the boy's uncle Richard, who was now given the impressive title of Lord High Protector of the Realm.

In May, Edward V and his younger brother Richard (b. 1473 CE) were imprisoned in the Tower of London where they became known as the 'Princes in the Tower'. The boys were never seen outside the castle again. According to later historians and Tudor propaganda, the boys were put there and murdered by Richard. This is also the view of William Shakespeare (1564-1616 CE) in his famous play Richard III. What we do know is that the two princes did spend time in the Tower - which was not merely a prison for important figures but a royal residence - and that they were seen by witnesses playing in the gardens there. Richard may have confined them there to forestall Queen Elizabeth's plan to hold an early coronation for Edward in June. A coronation could well have meant Richard's title and function as Protector of the Realm was withdrawn.

The supposed murder of the Princes in the Tower resulted in the finger of suspicion pointing at Richard.
The duke's first tactic was to discredit the legitimacy of the two princes by claiming that Edward IV had already been tied by a marriage agreement to one Lady Eleanor Butler, daughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury before he married Elizabeth Woodville. The late king's promiscuity was well known, and this at least allowed enough doubt in the case that Parliament declared Edward V and his younger brother illegitimate. Consequently, Edward was deposed on 25 June 1483 CE and Richard was nominated as the legitimate heir to the throne. The Duke of Gloucester, aged 30, was then crowned king on 6 July 1483 CE in Westminster Abbey, thereby becoming Richard III.

Then, sometime in the late summer of 1483 CE, the princes disappeared from the Tower and history, their obvious murder resulting in the finger of suspicion pointing at Richard. Curiously, Richard had been on duty in the Tower of London the night of Henry VI's murder and he was suspected of having done many other dark deeds to progress his career. Nevertheless, the deaths of the princes still remains a mystery. As a footnote to this grizzly episode, two skeletons of youths were discovered in a chest buried near the White Tower when the forebuilding was demolished in 1674 CE and these remains, identified then as the two princes, were reinterred in Westminster Abbey. The remains were re-examined in 1933 CE and confirmed as young males of similar age to the princes. Whoever killed the boys, Richard undoubtedly had most to gain by their deaths. Edward V was certainly the unlucky 13th king in the Plantagenet line."