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Other than the account of Sir Thomas More, often repeated
and embellished by other 16th century writers, nothing was known of
the fate of the princes. In 1674, 191 years after their
disappearance, an interesting discovery was made in the Tower of
London. Assembling the known facts together, one might imagine
that the discovery occurred something like this:
July, 1674
The clanging of picks resounded through the White Tower.
The stairs leading up to the Chapel of St. John the Evangelist had
been crumbling for a number of years, and the king had ordered its
demolition and replacement. The large broken stones shattered
under the workmen’s picks, and a large pile of rubble had formed in
the open area leading to the steps. The workmen had reached the
floor of the basement and had been surprised to find a layer of loose
stones, rather than a stone floor, as they had anticipated.
After they had removed about a 10-foot layer of stones,
they looked at the top of a wooden chest. Clearing away the last
of the debris, one of them carefully raised the lid and reached in.
He held up a bone. It was an arm bone. An hour
later, the workmen had collected the bones of two humans.
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Portrait of Charles II
(Scottish National Photo Gallery) |
Charles II, king at that time, ordered that the bones be
examined by the royal surgeon. who was afterwards satisfied that they
were the remains of the two princes, Edward V and his brother.
Four years later, after having lain in a safe place in the
Chapel of the White Tower, the bones were placed in a small marble
casket and given a place of honor in Westminster Abbey. At the
service, the Archbishop of London said the prayers, and Charles II
spoke.
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