cruel and malicious and,’ she added, tapping her first finger on her notes for emphasis, ‘extraordinarily ambitious. A gamesman capable of running with the hare or the hounds and able to wait, bide his time, then strike at the appropriate moment. Someone who would be eloquent enough and most of all, capable enough to tell the “big lie” and get away with it? He would need to be handsome and charming too so as to draw others in easily; like a spider might a fly.’
Laura paused, reached into her bag, extracted a cigarette and lit it while Gail watched her every move, knife and fork poised in the air, the remainder of her meal momentarily forgotten. Leaning back, Laura prepared to enjoy her cigarette, seemingly oblivious to Gail as she idly watched a couple pass by on their way out of the restaurant. The cigarette was more than half finished before Gail could stand it no longer.
‘Who do you think?’
‘Come on, Gail. There aren't that many characters on the stage. Who must it be? Who would have the personal power, the opportunity, the trust; all the things necessary to get close to those boys? I’ll give you a clue. He killed for his own ambition, not another's.’
Laura watched dispassionately as Gail shifted through the possibilities. ‘Buckingham,’ she said triumphantly.
Laura smiled and nodded. ‘Bingo - Henry Stafford, second Duke of Buckingham.’ Then her face clouded. ‘You know, he was a strange man. The more I read about him the less I like him. Arrogant and vain, he was unpopular at court during King Edward's reign and stayed more or less in the background until recent events. It was Buckingham who saw to Hastings execution; Richard wasn't even there.
‘Richard left on his tour around the tenth of July, but Brackenbury wasn't appointed Constable of the Tower until the seventeenth, so who was in charge in between? On the fifteenth, Buckingham was made Lord High Constable of England which meant that he was responsible for all the fortifications and defences of the realm. All the strongholds came under his jurisdiction, including the Tower of London.
‘Now, John, Lord Howard, was also very ambitious. He apparently wanted the title of Duke of Norfolk which just happened to belong to young Richard, Duke of York. It seems obvious that he hoped to regain his hereditary rights through Richard once he was on the throne. John Howard was a powerful man politically but hot-tempered, violent and cruel by nature. A most curious entry appears in his household books on May the twenty-first, 1483. It has to do with six men working for three days, three beds, sacks of lime, nails and lengths of timber.
‘There may be absolutely no connection whatsoever with the Princes but let's try a scenario. Suppose those men were busy doing something else besides making three cheap beds and whitewashing walls, which the entry suggests. Suppose that Buckingham approached Howard in that week after Richard left London and told him that Richard wanted the boys dead at the first opportunity. Howard had received his reward from Richard on the twenty-eighth of June and was now not only Duke of Norfolk but also hereditary Earl Marshall of England. As I said, the title of Duke still technically belonged to the younger Prince and was not really up for grabs unless …
‘Unlike Richard, perhaps Howard felt that it wasn't enough to just lock the boys away so when Buckingham approached him, he was eager to help, thinking he was doing Richard a favour as well as following orders. Besides, he had fought long and hard to achieve his new title and he wasn’t about to let a bastardised brat of a ten-year-old spoil things for him.
‘There’s no firm evidence that Buckingham accompanied Richard on the royal progress. In fact, his name is conspicuously absent from the list of guests present at a dinner in the King's honour at Magdalen College, Oxford.’
‘So, you're saying Buckingham stayed on in London?’ Gail asked.
‘Yes, but for the life of me I can't understand why Richard would allow a loose cannon like Buckingham out of his sight; and then to appoint him Constable of England? There's got to be something wrong here. Despite all his recent service to Richard, Buckingham was a closet Lancastrian. His grandfather had died fighting against the House of York at Northampton during the summer of 1460, for heaven's sake. Royal blood flowed thick in Buckingham's veins too and he had ambition enough for half a dozen men, plus a strong young male heir.
‘Remember, Brackenbury didn't come on the scene until the seventeenth. Buckingham was appointed High Constable on the fifteenth. It’s my contention that, with or without Howard's help, Buckingham arranged the death of the two boys sometime between the fifteenth and seventeenth of July, probably late at night and perhaps as you’ve suggested. He didn't join up with Richard in Gloucester until the twenty-ninth and that was when they had the argument. Anti-Richard types suggest it was because Richard told Buckingham that he was thinking of murdering the boys, or had already murdered them. It could just as well have been the other way around.’
‘Richard would have been furious,’ Gail said, shaking her head.
‘That would be the understatement of the week, but what could he do? The deed had been done and by his most trusted adviser, friend and confidant. Frankly I think Buckingham had the whole thing planned right from the start, just after King Edward died. Become Richard's friend, help destroy the Wydvilles, put Richard on the throne, discredit him by murdering the Princes and then, when he left Richard in a huff, he began to plot against him, which culminated in open rebellion later that year. When he arrived at his estates in Wales, guess who was there?’
‘Mrs. Buckingham?’
Laura laughed. ‘John Morton, Bishop of Ely. Remember, he was one of the men arrested in Council when Hastings was accused of treason? He became a prisoner under the care of Buckingham. He even asked to be Morton’s jailer which, in itself, is suggestive.
‘Now, Morton was a nasty bit of work. Sly, secretive, a lover of intrigue, he hated Richard with a passion. Soon Buckingham and Morton were busy scheming together. I doubt if Buckingham told Morton the truth about the Princes. Besides, Morton would want to believe that Richard murdered them because that was just what was needed to undermine Richard, both as a man and a king. Morton must have rubbed his hands in glee. There’s no doubt that Morton masterminded the events that followed. Poor Buckingham ended up being dragged along when Morton made it clear that he would support Henry Tudor and not him in a bid for the throne. Buckingham was faced with a dilemma then. His claim to the throne was much stronger than Henry's, but without support, and he couldn't expect much in the way of help after his recent attachment to Richard, his chances of success were virtually nil. Perhaps, he reasoned, once Richard was gotten rid of he could step forward, show his pedigree and bump Henry off, literally and figuratively.’
Gail chuckled.
‘Well, you’d have to be smoking funny cigarettes to believe that a man like Buckingham would have been happy putting Elizabeth Wydville's daughter on the throne, or Tudor. Tudor's branch of the royal tree was on the wrong side of the blanket, to put it politely, so I can't imagine Buckingham accepting such a sow's ear on the English throne.
‘Anyhow, Morton and Buckingham made their way to London and had a wee chat with Henry Tudor's mother, Margaret Beaufort. A deal was struck. Buckingham would help put Henry on the throne, Henry would marry Elizabeth of York and everyone would live happily ever after. In the meantime, rumours were circulated that the two boys had been murdered by order of their uncle. Everyone assumed that that was Richard, of course, although Buckingham was their uncle too. Neat, aye?’
‘And when did Elizabeth Wydville find out and who told her?’
‘I would imagine that
