Britain's Bloody Crown (2016) s01e03 Episode Script
The Princes Must Die
'Nearly 600 years ago, England was torn apart by a series of bloody battles for the throne.
In just 30 years, the crown changed hands seven times.
Tens of thousands were slaughtered.
It was one of the most turbulent and violent periods in British history.
It's known as the Wars of the Roses.
The most infamous story in the entire blood-soaked era happens 20 years after the Wars of the Roses begin.
The slaying of two innocent young boys, the princes in the Tower.
' In the late summer of 1483, 12-year-old King Edward V and his nine-year-old brother Prince Richard are murdered here at the Tower of London.
It causes such outrage, such hatred, that it topples a king and brings down the longest-ruling dynasty in English history.
'The man responsible was almost certainly the princes' uncle, Richard III.
This is a controversial and bloody tale in which Richard is usually portrayed as the evil, homicidal hunchback, hell-bent on stealing the crown.
' I'm gonna show you a very different version of history.
One in which the princes' deaths are far less simple, far less a comic book story of pure evil.
Because the truth is these deaths were the result of a violent clash of events and personalities that took place over a six-month period in which Richard's options narrowed to just one.
Because in this world and at this time, the princes had to die.
(CHATTING AND LAUGHTER) 'The heir to the throne is Edward IV's eldest son, the 12-year-old Prince Edward.
' Again.
(CLAPS) 'His guardian and tutor is his uncle, the Queen's brother, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, a brilliant knight and scholar.
The young Prince Edward hero-worships him.
They're as close as father and son.
On 14th April 1483, five days after the event, Rivers finally receives the terrible news.
The prince's father, Edward IV, is dead.
The burden of ruling England now rests on the shoulders of a 12-year-old boy.
' Uncle? 'Though he's yet to be formally crowned' The King is dead.
'.
.
The young prince is now King Edward V.
' Long live the King.
'But Edward will never have a coronation.
In less than four months, he and Rivers will both be murdered.
The man who will kill them is Richard Duke of Gloucester, brother of Edward IV and also uncle to the new king.
But in Spring 1483, Richard is the total opposite of the hunchbacked Shakespearean baddie we've all heard of.
Yes, he has a slightly curved spine, but he's also an English hero and a brilliant soldier.
Richard's tamed the rebellious north and crushed the Scots for his brother, Edward IV.
He's been admired and trusted by his men and by the King of England.
He's in his lands in the north when news of his brother's death reaches him.
' When Richard hears of his brother's death, he comes to York and changes into the black clothes of mourning, and he attends a memorial service here at the Minster, where he weeps for his dead brother.
'Richard now sees it as a duty of loyalty to carry out his brother's final wishes.
According to a contemporary source, Edward IV's will made Richard Protector of England.
This would give him control of the country until the 12-year-old king reaches adulthood.
Richard's only goal now is to follow his brother's instructions and make this happen.
In the days following the King's death, the country is temporarily in the charge of the old King's Council in London.
It's made up of some of the country's most powerful nobles.
Lord Hastings is a senior member of the council.
He's also intensely loyal to the late King.
So Richard writes to Hastings immediately.
He's relying on Hastings to make sure Edward IV's will is followed.
Richard must be confirmed as Protector of England straight away.
To Richard, this seems perfectly reasonable.
He's the most senior adult royal, he's acting on his brother's last wishes, and he's an experienced decision-maker and a warrior.
' He can see what needs to be done and he's quick, decisive and ruthless about making it happen.
But that attitude will also turn out to be his fatal weakness.
'Unfortunately for Richard, there is another source of royal power in England.
One that doesn't care to stick doggedly to the old king's final wishes.
The Woodvilles.
The Queen, Elizabeth Woodville, and her family had a meteoric rise from second-class nobility to national leaders under the old king.
They currently run the Navy, the Treasury and the Armoury.
But Richard's unlikely to dispense favours to the Woodvilles with the same enthusiasm as his dead brother.
If he becomes Protector, the Woodvilles could be left with nothing.
' Order, my lords! 'Hastings does his best to do what Richard asks.
' But the Woodvilles aren't stupid.
They have a majority on the council in London and they use it.
Instead of handing the keys of England to Richard as Protector, they decide that young Edward will start to rule immediately with advice provided by the council, or in other words, by them.
'Richard will be powerless and the Woodvilles are appallingly smug about getting one over on him.
' 'Tis true, my lord, we have such import that even without the King's uncle, we may make decisions as we wish.
From Richard's point of view, the Woodvilles are disrespecting the authority of his royal blood.
These are not the sort of people who should be in charge of the new king.
So he has two choices.
He could suck up the disrespect or he could do something about it.
Now, Richard is brilliant at decisive problem-solving.
That's what makes him such a great soldier.
And now he has a problem to solve 'Richard makes a fateful decision.
He writes to Rivers suggesting they all meet up on the way down to the coronation in London to show the unity of the whole royal family.
That seems fair enough.
But remember, Rivers is a Woodville.
To Richard, they are now the enemy.
Richard waits for them at Northampton with his right-hand man, Lord Buckingham.
' Your Grace.
'On April 29th 1483, leaving the young king in nearby lodgings, Rivers meets up with Richard.
' All of us must, at some time, look to others for guidance and assistance.
(ALL LAUGH) 'He finds him with his friend Buckingham in a very convivial mood.
Rivers has good reason to feel comfortable in Richard's company.
Richard had recently resolved a tricky land dispute for Rivers.
' My lord, it pleases me greatly that I could promote your cause.
'Everything is going famously.
' Gentlemen, good night.
'They agree to pick up the young king in the morning and head to London together for the coronation.
' Until the morrow.
'But Rivers will never make it to London.
' 'Richard believes he's trying to do the right thing, acting on the wishes of his dead brother, Edward IV.
In reality, by arresting the new king's uncle, Lord Rivers, one of the hated Woodvilles, Richard's started down the road to disaster.
Along with his henchman, Buckingham, Richard meets his nephew, Edward V, at Stony Stratford.
' Your Grace.
When it comes to his nephew, Richard's on uncharted territory.
He spent most of his time taming the north for his brother, but Edward spent much of the last ten years in Ludlow.
So when they arrive here at Stony Stratford, they may be uncle and nephew, but in reality, they're as good as strangers.
We are all of us most grieved by the passing of our right and noble King.
I bring further grave news, It concerns your uncle and his company.
And his foul responsibility in the passing of your father.
'Richard claims Rivers and his allies had a hand in the death of the young king's father, Edward IV.
' The Lords Rivers and Grey cannot stand at liberty in the face of their great treason.
'This argument doesn't go down well with the young prince.
' My uncle is no traitor.
'Edward's loyalties clearly lie with the Woodvilles and Rivers in particular.
To the young king, it's not Rivers' actions that looked dangerously traitorous, it's Richard's.
' It's easy to look at Richard's behaviour and see the seeds of tyranny, the arrests of Rivers and Grey, taking control of the young king.
But actually, it turns out that it's not that simple.
'The truth is revealed by an extraordinary book unearthed 80 years ago here at the Lille Bibliotheque in France.
' And this is it.
This is the only contemporary copy of a book by an Italian scholar called Dominic Mancini.
And when it was discovered in the 1930s, it profoundly changed the way we think about Richard.
Because Mancini is in England during 1483, so this is pretty much an eyewitness account.
And it's an incredible privilege to be able to read it.
The really interesting bit is here.
Because Mancini says that, according to the common report, Hastings, who he calls Astinco, had advised Richard to come to the capital with a strong force, forti man He said that if he did so, he'd be able to avenge the insults done to him by his enemies.
And he said this would be easy if before coming to London Richard took the young King Edward into his protection, cura, and under his authority.
So Hastings is basically telling Richard to imprison Rivers and Grey and to snatch the young king from the Woodvilles.
And that is big, because far from secretly planning to become a tyrant, Richard's actually following the advice of one of the most respected and senior nobles in the land, and the best pal of his dead brother, Edward IV.
'Of course, it's unlikely the young king knows any of this.
It must look like Richard is pretty much committing treason.
' For your protection we must return with you to London.
'Richard undermines his case even further by claiming Rivers' terrible crime was that he encouraged Edward IV's famously heavy drinking and this killed him.
Basically, Rivers committed treason because he got the old king drunk.
' Now, that's a pretty pathetic argument.
But Richard doesn't really care.
His explanations are just window-dressing for other people.
He's going to do what he's certain needs to be done.
If other people are too stupid to realise that, well, he's not especially bothered.
Unfortunately for Richard, the young king sees straight through him.
'To Edward, Richard's whole argument is a sham.
He has total faith in the integrity of Rivers and absolutely none in Richard.
This unswerving loyalty will ultimately seal the young king's fate.
But right now, like it or not, he's in Richard's care.
And Richard and Buckingham take Edward to London.
' Richard knows he has to restore some sense of normality, particularly because May 4th, the day they all arrived in London, was the day originally scheduled for young Edward's coronation.
Well, Richard's actions have clearly blown all of that out of the water.
So on May 10th, at a meeting of the council here at Westminster, he has the council very publicly announce a new date for the coronation, June 22nd, seven weeks away.
'Mancini records that sensationally Richard also forces the council to proclaim him Protector and Regent of the King and the Realm.
He's got exactly what he wants.
Richard has pretty much all the powers of a king.
Which is, after all, only what he believes his brother Edward IV's will demanded.
He sends the young king to the Tower of London.
' Your Grace.
Under my protection, ye shall be kept safe.
'Now, it's true that the Tower is a royal palace, but in reality, the young king is under house arrest.
He can't do anything Richard doesn't want.
' 'For example, help the Woodvilles.
Young Edward will never set foot outside the Tower again.
' Keep him free from harm.
Your Grace.
'There is, however, a catch to Richard's new powers.
The council put a seven-week time limit on them.
They cease on Edward's coronation.
They clearly have serious reservations about Richard's behaviour.
' (DOOR CLOSES AND LOCKS) This is the core of Richard's problem.
His total self-belief has made him very effective in seizing power, but that same trait prevents him from realising that other people don't see the world the same way that he does.
'The clock is ticking for Richard.
To carry out what he believes are his dead brother's wishes, he must neutralise any opposition in the next seven weeks.
' Richard needs to move quickly against the Woodvilles, starting with the family patriarch, Earl Rivers.
Rivers is the man closest to young Edward and that makes him Richard's most dangerous adversary.
Now, fortunately, Rivers is locked up at Sheriff Hutton Castle in Yorkshire.
But as soon as Edward's crowned, he's guaranteed to release Rivers.
Rivers will make very sure that Richard's Protectorate ends.
' So what started as a mission to secure his brother's legacy has become a grim and bloody fight for survival.
He must now do whatever it takes to stop the Woodvilles from sweeping back into power and sweeping him straight to the scaffold.
'Of course, most of Richard's problems would go away if Rivers should die for any reason.
' My lords, I urgently petition you that Lord Rivers be charged with crimes most heinous against royal authority.
'Richard demands the council try Rivers and his allies for treason because they were preparing to kill him, the Lord Protector.
It's another of Richard's paper-thin arguments.
' For this crime, they should be treated as traitors and suffer the traitors' fate death.
What say you, my lords? 'He doesn't much care if the council believe it, as long as they do what he wants.
And he has Hastings and Buckingham fighting his corner.
' Aye.
Aye.
But the council point out that since the ambushes would've taken place before Richard were Protector, it wouldn't be treason, even if that were true.
' Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
But it's obvious that many on the council simply don't believe him.
And that's hardly surprising.
After all, Richard's locked up a senior noble, snatched the king and forced the council to give him a Protectorate.
It's no wonder that, from their point of view, he is starting to look a little bit dangerous.
'The young king's mother, Elizabeth Woodville, is certainly scared of Richard.
She's fled to the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey with her children.
Including Edward's little brother.
She's banking on the fact that religious sanctuary is a boundary no-one dares cross.
And no-one has yet.
June 9th.
Richard has spent five weeks trying to force the council to support him.
He's been blocked at every turn.
He has just two weeks left.
If he can't get Rivers, he's going after someone more vulnerable.
He wants Edward V's little brother, nine-year-old Richard.
' My lords, the Prince Richard Duke of York must be released into the care of the Protector so he may attend the coronation.
Richard's got the king.
What does he need with his younger brother? Well, I think all of this stuff about wanting the prince at the coronation just feels like one of Richard's flimsy excuses to do something else.
I think he realises that the Woodvilles could use the prince's status to launch a new challenge to Richard's authority.
'But if Richard controls the young prince, that problem will go away.
' Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
'Hastings has been totally loyal to Richard, but this is starting to feel like treason.
Richard's difficulties with the council stoke a growing paranoia.
His henchman Buckingham pours fuel on the fire.
He says Hastings is in secret meetings with Richard's opponents.
There's nothing to suggest Buckingham is telling the truth, but that doesn't matter to Richard any more.
' Hastings, one of a dwindling number of allies, has now betrayed him.
The walls are closing in.
Anyone, no matter who they are or how important, who looks like they could threaten his survival will now be treated as an enemy.
'It no longer matters if it's true or not.
If Richard believes you've crossed him, you're a dead man.
' Nay.
Nay.
On June 13th, with just nine days remaining until the coronation, Richard attends a council meeting Now, for most people, the coronation will mark the point at which normality is finally restored.
But not Richard.
For him, the coronation will mark his fall from power and a chance for the Woodvilles to hunt him down.
So unlike everyone else, Richard arrives here with one mission.
To stop the coronation.
And his first step is to eliminate anyone who might stop him.
(DOOR OPENS) My lords, God give you good day.
Please, join us! Please, be seated.
'Richard has called a much reduced council meeting.
He's included his staunch ally, Hastings, which is surprising considering Richard now suspects Hastings is working against him.
The meeting starts well.
But Richard's about to make another appalling decision.
' I must briefly beg your leave.
'Hastings is left wondering what on earth is going on.
He doesn't have to wait long.
' Treason! Treason! Treason! Treason! My Lord Buckingham, take Lord Hastings without.
Unhand me.
No! My lords! My lords! My lords! 'Buckingham has become Richard's devious lackey, prepared to do anything Richard asks.
' No! No! No! No! No! 'Hastings is executed in the yard outside.
This is nothing less than a choreographed act of terrorism.
Execution without a trial by your peers is a violation of basic English law.
Richard claims Hastings committed treasons by conspiring to kill him.
' Treason is abroad in this country.
We shall suffer no more of it.
To the rest of the world, the idea that the upstanding and basically honourable Hastings was doing anything so base was plainly ludicrous.
But Richard's back's against the wall and he's not thinking like the rest of the world.
As far as Richard's concerned, throughout this whole mess, he's taken a series of unavoidable decisions to save the monarchy and to save himself, and in his mind, that's probably what he's still doing.
Richard's crossed a line and there's no coming back.
'Whatever people actually think of his sham excuses, they're now cowed into silence by fear.
Richard and his remaining ally Buckingham can now do pretty much whatever they want.
But time is running out for Richard.
' The coronation is now just days away and Hastings' death doesn't change the reality will still be coming for Richard.
So what next? Well, in truth, there's only one scenario in which Richard isn't destroyed and that's if Edward never takes the throne.
'But if young Edward isn't crowned king, then who is? From Richard's perspective, that's an easy question.
Him.
As far as he's concerned, he's just been trying to do what his brother wanted, and, of course, keeping himself alive.
' I don't think Richard snatching the throne was inevitable from the beginning.
I think it emerged from a combination of his own personality, his blinkered loyalty to his brother and the rapidly flourishing hatred between him and the Woodvilles.
And all of that drove him, one decision at a time, to the point of no return.
'On June 16th, six days before Edward's due to be crowned, Richard moves against the young king's mother, Elizabeth Woodville.
She's still sheltering inside Westminster Abbey under the powerful laws of sanctuary.
Richard sends in the 80-year-old Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Bourchier, to persuade her to give up her youngest son to Richard.
' Elizabeth's staying at the Abbot's house here at Westminster Abbey.
The Archbishop visits to reassure her that Richard is simply doing his duty as Protector and that her younger son will have a pivotal role in the coronation.
'But it must be crystal clear to Elizabeth that if she doesn't comply, Richard won't hesitate to violate sanctuary and snatch the prince anyway.
' After all, he's just murdered one of the country's senior nobles.
I believe you come with good intent.
But is there truly any assurance you can give me for my son's protection? 'Elizabeth's dilemma is acute.
She not only has her little boy with her, but also her daughters.
If she continues to resist, it's entirely possible Richard will kill them all.
But if she hands over her son, there's at least a chance they'll all survive until her eldest son's coronation.
Elizabeth folds.
She hands her son into Richard's care.
Richard immediately sends the little prince to join his brother in the Tower.
' The next morning, June 17th, Richard postpones Edward's coronation by four months.
After weeks of banging his head against a wall, Richard's finally getting people to do what he wants, principally because they're terrified of him.
Everyone's living in fear after Hastings' murder and there are rumours Richard's bringing 20,000 men south to London.
No-one dares to stop him.
'But his plan to snatch the throne is quite obviously illegal.
So Richard gets his best mate to sell another flimsy and outrageous justification to the country.
' On June 25th, Richard's ally Buckingham strides boldly in here to the Guildhall in London, and in his wake comes a party of lords and knights he's clearly assembled himself.
He makes his way here to the east end of the hall and climbs up on a raised platform to address his audience.
And he repeats a sensational and very convenient rumour that's been doing the rounds for the past few days.
Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid.
'Buckingham claims Edward IV was already contracted to marry someone else before Elizabeth Woodville.
If that's true, under English law, Edward IV's children are illegitimate.
None can rule England.
Buckingham claims that only Richard has the legitimacy and the integrity to take the crown.
Which is a pretty tough sell.
' After all, we are talking about a man who's imprisoned two little boys, threatened to violate sanctuary, raised an army against the capital, murdered a senior nobleman and is now very clearly usurping the throne.
But Buckingham is effectively Richard's chief of staff and he's an oily, untrustworthy man on the make.
If he gets this right, he ends up being the new king's best pal.
(LOCK CLUNKS) 'On the same day, Richard finally deals with Lord Rivers, one of his most dangerous Woodville opponents.
After more than two months in prison, he's convicted of treason.
But it's a sham trial, of course.
Rivers isn't even allowed to speak.
He's executed the same day.
His body thrown into a common grave.
With his main opponents dead or neutralised, the throne is Richard's for the taking.
' This is the site of Baynard's Castle, a fabulous riverside mansion where Richard's staying.
Literally the day after Rivers' murder, Buckingham leads a hastily-assembled and I think rather scared delegation of nobles, bishops and Londoners here to meet Richard.
They meekly accept his claim that the princes are bastards and formally offer him the crown.
Richard hesitates theatrically.
Should he accept? Is he the right man? Seriously? 'The party heads to Westminster Hall where they declare Richard king.
In just 13 weeks, Richard has descended from noble defender of his dead brother's last wishes to a murderous tyrant.
And he probably believes that every rash and violent decision was totally justified to save himself and the crown.
But, of course, Richard's not the only one with a claim to the crown.
His rule will never truly be safe as long as his young nephews remain alive.
' 'July 6th 1483, only three months after his brother Edward IV's death, Richard Duke of Gloucester is crowned King Richard III of England.
Having repeatedly violated the law, Richard now pulls a handbrake turn and starts trying to spin the image of a noble king.
Everything is done by the book.
Buckingham's unflinching loyalty to Richard earns him pride of place as Master of Ceremonies.
' Long live the King! ALL: Long live the King! 'But sharper observers cannot miss one notable absence.
Neither of his nephews, the princes in the Tower, are there.
' The two princes have been seen playing here in the Tower grounds, but on July 9th, three days after his coronation, Richard dismisses all of their servants.
They're never seen outside these walls again.
'Richard has them under close arrest.
But he doesn't seem to have worked out what to do with them.
Richard sets off on a tour of the country to calm tensions and show that there is a safe and reliable monarch on the throne.
But while he's away, Richard receives worrying news.
There's been an attempt to spring the princes from the Tower.
The plan was to set light to buildings across the city and spirit the boys away in the confusion.
But Richard's men grab the conspirators before they can act.
But it's a stark reminder of how dangerous challenges for the throne are.
' Sooner or later, someone will succeed in freeing the princes and there's a fair chance that that person will kill Richard and replace him with Edward.
So the truth is, if Richard wants to keep his crown, the princes have to die.
Sightings of the princes at windows in the Tower persist for a few weeks after the plot to spring them is uncovered.
Edward's physician visits the princes and reports that the young king is preparing like a victim for sacrifice.
He's taking daily confession, believing that death is coming for him.
He's right.
' By early autumn, the princes have simply vanished.
'There's no reliable record of their death, no bodies are found and no-one is put on trial.
But by September, almost nobody believes they're still alive.
Rumours circulate that the boys have been smothered in their sleep, poisoned, even drowned in a vat of wine.
The truth is nobody knows.
The one thing we can say for certain is that the person who benefits most from their deaths is Richard.
Even though he started with the best of intentions, I think it's almost certain that he had them murdered.
Richard's not done yet.
In October 1483, his loyal crony Buckingham rebels against him.
Richard has him executed.
Richard will be the last of the Plantagenet kings that have ruled England for more than 300 years.
Richard's nephews were pretty much the last of the line.
Now he is truly alone.
' Most previous Plantagenet kings had a substantial royal family around them.
Brothers, uncles, cousins, nephews, someone to keep the royal line going.
But apart from his own son, Richard III, the 14th Plantagenet, has pretty much no-one.
His misguided attempts to secure the power of his own dynasty have ended up wiping them out.
And along the way, he's been transformed from a English hero into a paranoid child-murderer.
All in just six months.
'Next time, the Wars of the Roses come to a bloody end as Richard III meets his fate.
He's brought down not by a king or a nobleman, but by a brilliant and politically-astute woman.
Margaret Beaufort.
'
In just 30 years, the crown changed hands seven times.
Tens of thousands were slaughtered.
It was one of the most turbulent and violent periods in British history.
It's known as the Wars of the Roses.
The most infamous story in the entire blood-soaked era happens 20 years after the Wars of the Roses begin.
The slaying of two innocent young boys, the princes in the Tower.
' In the late summer of 1483, 12-year-old King Edward V and his nine-year-old brother Prince Richard are murdered here at the Tower of London.
It causes such outrage, such hatred, that it topples a king and brings down the longest-ruling dynasty in English history.
'The man responsible was almost certainly the princes' uncle, Richard III.
This is a controversial and bloody tale in which Richard is usually portrayed as the evil, homicidal hunchback, hell-bent on stealing the crown.
' I'm gonna show you a very different version of history.
One in which the princes' deaths are far less simple, far less a comic book story of pure evil.
Because the truth is these deaths were the result of a violent clash of events and personalities that took place over a six-month period in which Richard's options narrowed to just one.
Because in this world and at this time, the princes had to die.
(CHATTING AND LAUGHTER) 'The heir to the throne is Edward IV's eldest son, the 12-year-old Prince Edward.
' Again.
(CLAPS) 'His guardian and tutor is his uncle, the Queen's brother, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, a brilliant knight and scholar.
The young Prince Edward hero-worships him.
They're as close as father and son.
On 14th April 1483, five days after the event, Rivers finally receives the terrible news.
The prince's father, Edward IV, is dead.
The burden of ruling England now rests on the shoulders of a 12-year-old boy.
' Uncle? 'Though he's yet to be formally crowned' The King is dead.
'.
.
The young prince is now King Edward V.
' Long live the King.
'But Edward will never have a coronation.
In less than four months, he and Rivers will both be murdered.
The man who will kill them is Richard Duke of Gloucester, brother of Edward IV and also uncle to the new king.
But in Spring 1483, Richard is the total opposite of the hunchbacked Shakespearean baddie we've all heard of.
Yes, he has a slightly curved spine, but he's also an English hero and a brilliant soldier.
Richard's tamed the rebellious north and crushed the Scots for his brother, Edward IV.
He's been admired and trusted by his men and by the King of England.
He's in his lands in the north when news of his brother's death reaches him.
' When Richard hears of his brother's death, he comes to York and changes into the black clothes of mourning, and he attends a memorial service here at the Minster, where he weeps for his dead brother.
'Richard now sees it as a duty of loyalty to carry out his brother's final wishes.
According to a contemporary source, Edward IV's will made Richard Protector of England.
This would give him control of the country until the 12-year-old king reaches adulthood.
Richard's only goal now is to follow his brother's instructions and make this happen.
In the days following the King's death, the country is temporarily in the charge of the old King's Council in London.
It's made up of some of the country's most powerful nobles.
Lord Hastings is a senior member of the council.
He's also intensely loyal to the late King.
So Richard writes to Hastings immediately.
He's relying on Hastings to make sure Edward IV's will is followed.
Richard must be confirmed as Protector of England straight away.
To Richard, this seems perfectly reasonable.
He's the most senior adult royal, he's acting on his brother's last wishes, and he's an experienced decision-maker and a warrior.
' He can see what needs to be done and he's quick, decisive and ruthless about making it happen.
But that attitude will also turn out to be his fatal weakness.
'Unfortunately for Richard, there is another source of royal power in England.
One that doesn't care to stick doggedly to the old king's final wishes.
The Woodvilles.
The Queen, Elizabeth Woodville, and her family had a meteoric rise from second-class nobility to national leaders under the old king.
They currently run the Navy, the Treasury and the Armoury.
But Richard's unlikely to dispense favours to the Woodvilles with the same enthusiasm as his dead brother.
If he becomes Protector, the Woodvilles could be left with nothing.
' Order, my lords! 'Hastings does his best to do what Richard asks.
' But the Woodvilles aren't stupid.
They have a majority on the council in London and they use it.
Instead of handing the keys of England to Richard as Protector, they decide that young Edward will start to rule immediately with advice provided by the council, or in other words, by them.
'Richard will be powerless and the Woodvilles are appallingly smug about getting one over on him.
' 'Tis true, my lord, we have such import that even without the King's uncle, we may make decisions as we wish.
From Richard's point of view, the Woodvilles are disrespecting the authority of his royal blood.
These are not the sort of people who should be in charge of the new king.
So he has two choices.
He could suck up the disrespect or he could do something about it.
Now, Richard is brilliant at decisive problem-solving.
That's what makes him such a great soldier.
And now he has a problem to solve 'Richard makes a fateful decision.
He writes to Rivers suggesting they all meet up on the way down to the coronation in London to show the unity of the whole royal family.
That seems fair enough.
But remember, Rivers is a Woodville.
To Richard, they are now the enemy.
Richard waits for them at Northampton with his right-hand man, Lord Buckingham.
' Your Grace.
'On April 29th 1483, leaving the young king in nearby lodgings, Rivers meets up with Richard.
' All of us must, at some time, look to others for guidance and assistance.
(ALL LAUGH) 'He finds him with his friend Buckingham in a very convivial mood.
Rivers has good reason to feel comfortable in Richard's company.
Richard had recently resolved a tricky land dispute for Rivers.
' My lord, it pleases me greatly that I could promote your cause.
'Everything is going famously.
' Gentlemen, good night.
'They agree to pick up the young king in the morning and head to London together for the coronation.
' Until the morrow.
'But Rivers will never make it to London.
' 'Richard believes he's trying to do the right thing, acting on the wishes of his dead brother, Edward IV.
In reality, by arresting the new king's uncle, Lord Rivers, one of the hated Woodvilles, Richard's started down the road to disaster.
Along with his henchman, Buckingham, Richard meets his nephew, Edward V, at Stony Stratford.
' Your Grace.
When it comes to his nephew, Richard's on uncharted territory.
He spent most of his time taming the north for his brother, but Edward spent much of the last ten years in Ludlow.
So when they arrive here at Stony Stratford, they may be uncle and nephew, but in reality, they're as good as strangers.
We are all of us most grieved by the passing of our right and noble King.
I bring further grave news, It concerns your uncle and his company.
And his foul responsibility in the passing of your father.
'Richard claims Rivers and his allies had a hand in the death of the young king's father, Edward IV.
' The Lords Rivers and Grey cannot stand at liberty in the face of their great treason.
'This argument doesn't go down well with the young prince.
' My uncle is no traitor.
'Edward's loyalties clearly lie with the Woodvilles and Rivers in particular.
To the young king, it's not Rivers' actions that looked dangerously traitorous, it's Richard's.
' It's easy to look at Richard's behaviour and see the seeds of tyranny, the arrests of Rivers and Grey, taking control of the young king.
But actually, it turns out that it's not that simple.
'The truth is revealed by an extraordinary book unearthed 80 years ago here at the Lille Bibliotheque in France.
' And this is it.
This is the only contemporary copy of a book by an Italian scholar called Dominic Mancini.
And when it was discovered in the 1930s, it profoundly changed the way we think about Richard.
Because Mancini is in England during 1483, so this is pretty much an eyewitness account.
And it's an incredible privilege to be able to read it.
The really interesting bit is here.
Because Mancini says that, according to the common report, Hastings, who he calls Astinco, had advised Richard to come to the capital with a strong force, forti man He said that if he did so, he'd be able to avenge the insults done to him by his enemies.
And he said this would be easy if before coming to London Richard took the young King Edward into his protection, cura, and under his authority.
So Hastings is basically telling Richard to imprison Rivers and Grey and to snatch the young king from the Woodvilles.
And that is big, because far from secretly planning to become a tyrant, Richard's actually following the advice of one of the most respected and senior nobles in the land, and the best pal of his dead brother, Edward IV.
'Of course, it's unlikely the young king knows any of this.
It must look like Richard is pretty much committing treason.
' For your protection we must return with you to London.
'Richard undermines his case even further by claiming Rivers' terrible crime was that he encouraged Edward IV's famously heavy drinking and this killed him.
Basically, Rivers committed treason because he got the old king drunk.
' Now, that's a pretty pathetic argument.
But Richard doesn't really care.
His explanations are just window-dressing for other people.
He's going to do what he's certain needs to be done.
If other people are too stupid to realise that, well, he's not especially bothered.
Unfortunately for Richard, the young king sees straight through him.
'To Edward, Richard's whole argument is a sham.
He has total faith in the integrity of Rivers and absolutely none in Richard.
This unswerving loyalty will ultimately seal the young king's fate.
But right now, like it or not, he's in Richard's care.
And Richard and Buckingham take Edward to London.
' Richard knows he has to restore some sense of normality, particularly because May 4th, the day they all arrived in London, was the day originally scheduled for young Edward's coronation.
Well, Richard's actions have clearly blown all of that out of the water.
So on May 10th, at a meeting of the council here at Westminster, he has the council very publicly announce a new date for the coronation, June 22nd, seven weeks away.
'Mancini records that sensationally Richard also forces the council to proclaim him Protector and Regent of the King and the Realm.
He's got exactly what he wants.
Richard has pretty much all the powers of a king.
Which is, after all, only what he believes his brother Edward IV's will demanded.
He sends the young king to the Tower of London.
' Your Grace.
Under my protection, ye shall be kept safe.
'Now, it's true that the Tower is a royal palace, but in reality, the young king is under house arrest.
He can't do anything Richard doesn't want.
' 'For example, help the Woodvilles.
Young Edward will never set foot outside the Tower again.
' Keep him free from harm.
Your Grace.
'There is, however, a catch to Richard's new powers.
The council put a seven-week time limit on them.
They cease on Edward's coronation.
They clearly have serious reservations about Richard's behaviour.
' (DOOR CLOSES AND LOCKS) This is the core of Richard's problem.
His total self-belief has made him very effective in seizing power, but that same trait prevents him from realising that other people don't see the world the same way that he does.
'The clock is ticking for Richard.
To carry out what he believes are his dead brother's wishes, he must neutralise any opposition in the next seven weeks.
' Richard needs to move quickly against the Woodvilles, starting with the family patriarch, Earl Rivers.
Rivers is the man closest to young Edward and that makes him Richard's most dangerous adversary.
Now, fortunately, Rivers is locked up at Sheriff Hutton Castle in Yorkshire.
But as soon as Edward's crowned, he's guaranteed to release Rivers.
Rivers will make very sure that Richard's Protectorate ends.
' So what started as a mission to secure his brother's legacy has become a grim and bloody fight for survival.
He must now do whatever it takes to stop the Woodvilles from sweeping back into power and sweeping him straight to the scaffold.
'Of course, most of Richard's problems would go away if Rivers should die for any reason.
' My lords, I urgently petition you that Lord Rivers be charged with crimes most heinous against royal authority.
'Richard demands the council try Rivers and his allies for treason because they were preparing to kill him, the Lord Protector.
It's another of Richard's paper-thin arguments.
' For this crime, they should be treated as traitors and suffer the traitors' fate death.
What say you, my lords? 'He doesn't much care if the council believe it, as long as they do what he wants.
And he has Hastings and Buckingham fighting his corner.
' Aye.
Aye.
But the council point out that since the ambushes would've taken place before Richard were Protector, it wouldn't be treason, even if that were true.
' Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
But it's obvious that many on the council simply don't believe him.
And that's hardly surprising.
After all, Richard's locked up a senior noble, snatched the king and forced the council to give him a Protectorate.
It's no wonder that, from their point of view, he is starting to look a little bit dangerous.
'The young king's mother, Elizabeth Woodville, is certainly scared of Richard.
She's fled to the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey with her children.
Including Edward's little brother.
She's banking on the fact that religious sanctuary is a boundary no-one dares cross.
And no-one has yet.
June 9th.
Richard has spent five weeks trying to force the council to support him.
He's been blocked at every turn.
He has just two weeks left.
If he can't get Rivers, he's going after someone more vulnerable.
He wants Edward V's little brother, nine-year-old Richard.
' My lords, the Prince Richard Duke of York must be released into the care of the Protector so he may attend the coronation.
Richard's got the king.
What does he need with his younger brother? Well, I think all of this stuff about wanting the prince at the coronation just feels like one of Richard's flimsy excuses to do something else.
I think he realises that the Woodvilles could use the prince's status to launch a new challenge to Richard's authority.
'But if Richard controls the young prince, that problem will go away.
' Nay.
Nay.
Nay.
'Hastings has been totally loyal to Richard, but this is starting to feel like treason.
Richard's difficulties with the council stoke a growing paranoia.
His henchman Buckingham pours fuel on the fire.
He says Hastings is in secret meetings with Richard's opponents.
There's nothing to suggest Buckingham is telling the truth, but that doesn't matter to Richard any more.
' Hastings, one of a dwindling number of allies, has now betrayed him.
The walls are closing in.
Anyone, no matter who they are or how important, who looks like they could threaten his survival will now be treated as an enemy.
'It no longer matters if it's true or not.
If Richard believes you've crossed him, you're a dead man.
' Nay.
Nay.
On June 13th, with just nine days remaining until the coronation, Richard attends a council meeting Now, for most people, the coronation will mark the point at which normality is finally restored.
But not Richard.
For him, the coronation will mark his fall from power and a chance for the Woodvilles to hunt him down.
So unlike everyone else, Richard arrives here with one mission.
To stop the coronation.
And his first step is to eliminate anyone who might stop him.
(DOOR OPENS) My lords, God give you good day.
Please, join us! Please, be seated.
'Richard has called a much reduced council meeting.
He's included his staunch ally, Hastings, which is surprising considering Richard now suspects Hastings is working against him.
The meeting starts well.
But Richard's about to make another appalling decision.
' I must briefly beg your leave.
'Hastings is left wondering what on earth is going on.
He doesn't have to wait long.
' Treason! Treason! Treason! Treason! My Lord Buckingham, take Lord Hastings without.
Unhand me.
No! My lords! My lords! My lords! 'Buckingham has become Richard's devious lackey, prepared to do anything Richard asks.
' No! No! No! No! No! 'Hastings is executed in the yard outside.
This is nothing less than a choreographed act of terrorism.
Execution without a trial by your peers is a violation of basic English law.
Richard claims Hastings committed treasons by conspiring to kill him.
' Treason is abroad in this country.
We shall suffer no more of it.
To the rest of the world, the idea that the upstanding and basically honourable Hastings was doing anything so base was plainly ludicrous.
But Richard's back's against the wall and he's not thinking like the rest of the world.
As far as Richard's concerned, throughout this whole mess, he's taken a series of unavoidable decisions to save the monarchy and to save himself, and in his mind, that's probably what he's still doing.
Richard's crossed a line and there's no coming back.
'Whatever people actually think of his sham excuses, they're now cowed into silence by fear.
Richard and his remaining ally Buckingham can now do pretty much whatever they want.
But time is running out for Richard.
' The coronation is now just days away and Hastings' death doesn't change the reality will still be coming for Richard.
So what next? Well, in truth, there's only one scenario in which Richard isn't destroyed and that's if Edward never takes the throne.
'But if young Edward isn't crowned king, then who is? From Richard's perspective, that's an easy question.
Him.
As far as he's concerned, he's just been trying to do what his brother wanted, and, of course, keeping himself alive.
' I don't think Richard snatching the throne was inevitable from the beginning.
I think it emerged from a combination of his own personality, his blinkered loyalty to his brother and the rapidly flourishing hatred between him and the Woodvilles.
And all of that drove him, one decision at a time, to the point of no return.
'On June 16th, six days before Edward's due to be crowned, Richard moves against the young king's mother, Elizabeth Woodville.
She's still sheltering inside Westminster Abbey under the powerful laws of sanctuary.
Richard sends in the 80-year-old Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Bourchier, to persuade her to give up her youngest son to Richard.
' Elizabeth's staying at the Abbot's house here at Westminster Abbey.
The Archbishop visits to reassure her that Richard is simply doing his duty as Protector and that her younger son will have a pivotal role in the coronation.
'But it must be crystal clear to Elizabeth that if she doesn't comply, Richard won't hesitate to violate sanctuary and snatch the prince anyway.
' After all, he's just murdered one of the country's senior nobles.
I believe you come with good intent.
But is there truly any assurance you can give me for my son's protection? 'Elizabeth's dilemma is acute.
She not only has her little boy with her, but also her daughters.
If she continues to resist, it's entirely possible Richard will kill them all.
But if she hands over her son, there's at least a chance they'll all survive until her eldest son's coronation.
Elizabeth folds.
She hands her son into Richard's care.
Richard immediately sends the little prince to join his brother in the Tower.
' The next morning, June 17th, Richard postpones Edward's coronation by four months.
After weeks of banging his head against a wall, Richard's finally getting people to do what he wants, principally because they're terrified of him.
Everyone's living in fear after Hastings' murder and there are rumours Richard's bringing 20,000 men south to London.
No-one dares to stop him.
'But his plan to snatch the throne is quite obviously illegal.
So Richard gets his best mate to sell another flimsy and outrageous justification to the country.
' On June 25th, Richard's ally Buckingham strides boldly in here to the Guildhall in London, and in his wake comes a party of lords and knights he's clearly assembled himself.
He makes his way here to the east end of the hall and climbs up on a raised platform to address his audience.
And he repeats a sensational and very convenient rumour that's been doing the rounds for the past few days.
Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid.
'Buckingham claims Edward IV was already contracted to marry someone else before Elizabeth Woodville.
If that's true, under English law, Edward IV's children are illegitimate.
None can rule England.
Buckingham claims that only Richard has the legitimacy and the integrity to take the crown.
Which is a pretty tough sell.
' After all, we are talking about a man who's imprisoned two little boys, threatened to violate sanctuary, raised an army against the capital, murdered a senior nobleman and is now very clearly usurping the throne.
But Buckingham is effectively Richard's chief of staff and he's an oily, untrustworthy man on the make.
If he gets this right, he ends up being the new king's best pal.
(LOCK CLUNKS) 'On the same day, Richard finally deals with Lord Rivers, one of his most dangerous Woodville opponents.
After more than two months in prison, he's convicted of treason.
But it's a sham trial, of course.
Rivers isn't even allowed to speak.
He's executed the same day.
His body thrown into a common grave.
With his main opponents dead or neutralised, the throne is Richard's for the taking.
' This is the site of Baynard's Castle, a fabulous riverside mansion where Richard's staying.
Literally the day after Rivers' murder, Buckingham leads a hastily-assembled and I think rather scared delegation of nobles, bishops and Londoners here to meet Richard.
They meekly accept his claim that the princes are bastards and formally offer him the crown.
Richard hesitates theatrically.
Should he accept? Is he the right man? Seriously? 'The party heads to Westminster Hall where they declare Richard king.
In just 13 weeks, Richard has descended from noble defender of his dead brother's last wishes to a murderous tyrant.
And he probably believes that every rash and violent decision was totally justified to save himself and the crown.
But, of course, Richard's not the only one with a claim to the crown.
His rule will never truly be safe as long as his young nephews remain alive.
' 'July 6th 1483, only three months after his brother Edward IV's death, Richard Duke of Gloucester is crowned King Richard III of England.
Having repeatedly violated the law, Richard now pulls a handbrake turn and starts trying to spin the image of a noble king.
Everything is done by the book.
Buckingham's unflinching loyalty to Richard earns him pride of place as Master of Ceremonies.
' Long live the King! ALL: Long live the King! 'But sharper observers cannot miss one notable absence.
Neither of his nephews, the princes in the Tower, are there.
' The two princes have been seen playing here in the Tower grounds, but on July 9th, three days after his coronation, Richard dismisses all of their servants.
They're never seen outside these walls again.
'Richard has them under close arrest.
But he doesn't seem to have worked out what to do with them.
Richard sets off on a tour of the country to calm tensions and show that there is a safe and reliable monarch on the throne.
But while he's away, Richard receives worrying news.
There's been an attempt to spring the princes from the Tower.
The plan was to set light to buildings across the city and spirit the boys away in the confusion.
But Richard's men grab the conspirators before they can act.
But it's a stark reminder of how dangerous challenges for the throne are.
' Sooner or later, someone will succeed in freeing the princes and there's a fair chance that that person will kill Richard and replace him with Edward.
So the truth is, if Richard wants to keep his crown, the princes have to die.
Sightings of the princes at windows in the Tower persist for a few weeks after the plot to spring them is uncovered.
Edward's physician visits the princes and reports that the young king is preparing like a victim for sacrifice.
He's taking daily confession, believing that death is coming for him.
He's right.
' By early autumn, the princes have simply vanished.
'There's no reliable record of their death, no bodies are found and no-one is put on trial.
But by September, almost nobody believes they're still alive.
Rumours circulate that the boys have been smothered in their sleep, poisoned, even drowned in a vat of wine.
The truth is nobody knows.
The one thing we can say for certain is that the person who benefits most from their deaths is Richard.
Even though he started with the best of intentions, I think it's almost certain that he had them murdered.
Richard's not done yet.
In October 1483, his loyal crony Buckingham rebels against him.
Richard has him executed.
Richard will be the last of the Plantagenet kings that have ruled England for more than 300 years.
Richard's nephews were pretty much the last of the line.
Now he is truly alone.
' Most previous Plantagenet kings had a substantial royal family around them.
Brothers, uncles, cousins, nephews, someone to keep the royal line going.
But apart from his own son, Richard III, the 14th Plantagenet, has pretty much no-one.
His misguided attempts to secure the power of his own dynasty have ended up wiping them out.
And along the way, he's been transformed from a English hero into a paranoid child-murderer.
All in just six months.
'Next time, the Wars of the Roses come to a bloody end as Richard III meets his fate.
He's brought down not by a king or a nobleman, but by a brilliant and politically-astute woman.
Margaret Beaufort.
'