January 10th, 1852.
SIR,--All our historians assert that Richard, Duke of Glo'ster paved
his way to the crown by bastardizing, imprisoning, and assassinating
his two nephews, Edward Prince of Wales and Richard Duke of York. How
then are we to account for the provision made in the Wardrobe Roll
for the Coronation of Richard III., July 3rd, 1483, (published in the
Antiquarian Repertory, Vol. I. p. 29, 1807;) "_The deliveree of divers
Stuff delivered for the use of Lorde Edwarde, son of late Kyng Edward
the Fourthe, and of his Henxemen?_" Then follows a particular account
of the materials for the "_apparaill and array_" of "_Prince Edward_"
and his "_Henxemen_." Was he really present at his uncle's coronation?
There is no mention of the Duke of York. The Declaration of Tyrrell and
Dighton, published in the ensuing reign by Henry VII., says, the young
princes were murdered in July, 1483. If the words did not expressly
state "_Edwarde, son of late Kyng Edwarde the Fourthe_," I should have
concluded that it meant Richard III.'s own son Edward, by Lady Ann
Nivelle, at that time about nine years of age.
Yours, &c. O. S.