She was deliberately trying not to think of what might be happening at Stony Stratford because she very much feared something had gone wrong. She had given instructions that couriers were to come in a continuous stream, so anxious was she to be ready when her son arrived.

It had been hours now and there were none. Anthony should be almost in sight of London now.

At last, the messenger had arrived. Something was definitely wrong. The Queen commanded that he be brought to her without a second’s delay. He was breathless and stammered out the news.

She could not believe it. Gloucester had the King! He was at Northampton with him! Anthony and Richard arrested!

‘Oh God preserve us,’ she cried, ‘this is disaster.’

She looked at Dorset. He was never at his best in a crisis.

‘Gloucester has defeated us,’ he cried. ‘A thousand curses on Gloucester. A pox on the man!’

‘But what are we to do?’ demanded Elizabeth. ‘He has arrested your brother and your uncle. What do you think will happen to us when he comes to London?’

‘We must get away ...’ cried Dorset. ‘But where can we go?’

Elizabeth was ready. It had happened before. She said: ‘We must go into Sanctuary.’

She looked about her at all the rich possessions which she so loved. Leave them ... go to Sanctuary. How long would she remain there? And yet she must. How could she know what Gloucester would do when he brought the King to London?

‘We must prepare to go at once. I will take all the children with me. He cannot harm us in Sanctuary. I lived there before when the King was in exile. I shall do it again. But this time I shall take with me ... some of my possessions. I shall not go empty-handed as I did before.’

‘Then let us start at once to collect what you will take with you. There is little time to be lost.’

Elizabeth frantically called to her servants and began directing them as to what must be packed. Others must go and prepare the children. She thanked God that young Richard was with them. He and the five girls must be prepared at once to leave and as soon as her precious possessions were crated they would sail up the river to the Sanctuary.

Meanwhile Hastings had received the news that the King was in Gloucester’s hands. The city was crowded with the nobles from all over the country who had come for the King’s coronation and it occurred to Hastings that he should inform Thomas Rotherham Archbishop of York, who was also Chancellor and who by good fortune happened to be in London at this time, that all was well.

The old Archbishop who was sixty years of age was startled from his sleep by the news.

Hastings’s words intended to reassure him did nothing of the sort. ‘All will be well,’ Hastings’s message ended.

The old man pondered it. He was a supporter of the Queen and he did not like this. ‘All will be well,’ he muttered. ‘But it will never be as good as it has been.’

No, it was a great disaster that Edward should have died so young before they were prepared for his death and thus to leave this innocent child to carry on the responsibilities of the crown. He hastily dressed and as he did so it was brought home to him more and more what this meant. The Queen’s family was too powerful to stand aside and let Gloucester take over what they had decided was theirs.

He must warn the Queen without delay. He set out at once for Westminster Palace. There he found a most extraordinary scene. The Queen was seated on the rushes, her expression blank and despairing; all about her were servants packing crates, taking down tapestries from the walls and putting valuable ornaments into boxes.

‘My lady,’ cried the Chancellor, ‘you must not despair. I have had word from my Lord Hastings. “All will be well”, he says.’

‘Hastings!’ cried the Queen in fury. ‘If ever a man was my enemy that man is. He is determined to destroy me and my family. What he calls good is bad for me, my lord.’

The Chancellor was horrified.

‘Oh my lady, my lady,’ he cried, ‘what shall we do?’

‘You will stand by me, my lord? I shall have some friends.’

‘My lady, you may rely on me to defend your cause.’ He took the Great Seal and placed it in her hands.

Elizabeth took it gratefully and bade the Archbishop go back to his palace. Ere long she, with her family, would be leaving for Sanctuary.

The goods she was taking with her were packed. She sent for her children and they came, bewildered. They had never known the uneasy days. Their lives had all been guarded by their great indulgent all-powerful father. There was lovely Elizabeth, sixteen years old now and who should have been Dauphine of France at this time but for the treachery of Louis, the shock of whose deception had doubtless hastened Edward’s death. Cecily, fourteen years old. And Anne eight, Catherine four and little Bridget three. Seeing them together thus the Queen thought of poor Mary and the great sorrow her death had brought them. Elizabeth and Edward had often congratulated themselves that they had been more lucky than most families because although they had lost three children – Margaret, George and now Mary – they had kept the rest and out of ten they had seven left to them and that was a very good number. The Queen embraced them all tenderly. She kept young Richard close to her. He as the boy was very precious. He was ten years old now and he was always asking questions about his brother and wanting to see him. She had often considered sending him to Ludlow, but she had been unable to resist the temptation to keep him with her.

Now she was glad.

‘My dear children,’ she said to them, ‘something dreadful has happened. Your wicked uncle Gloucester has taken the King from my lord Rivers and now holds him. I am afraid of what he will do when he brings him to London and for that reason we are all going into Sanctuary until we know what is happening.’

‘Are we taking all these things with us?’ asked Richard.

‘Yes, my son, we are not leaving them behind for your uncle to have.’

‘Will he kill Edward?’

‘No, no. Nobody is going to kill anybody. He wouldn’t dare. But he wants to rule through Edward and we are not going to allow that to happen.’

‘Are we going to fight him ...’

‘We are powerful enough to stop him.’

‘The Woodvilles will be able to,’ said Elizabeth. ‘They are the most powerful family in the country.’

‘That is so and rightly,’ said the Queen. ‘Remember, my dears, that you are Woodvilles too. Now Elizabeth and you Cecily, take care of the little ones. We should be leaving at once. The sooner we are in Sanctuary the more relieved I shall be.’

They went out into the barge and soon arrived at the Sanctuary beside the Abbey.

‘I was here once before,’ said young Elizabeth.

‘Yes,’ murmured the Queen, ‘and I never thought this could ever befall us again.’

‘Well, we are together,’ Elizabeth reminded her.

‘Not all of us,’ piped up Richard. ‘Edward isn’t.’

‘We shall soon have the King with us,’ said the Queen firmly.


Waiting in Northampton Gloucester received Hastings’s message.

The Woodvilles had clearly realised they were beaten. The Queen had fled with her children into Sanctuary. Rotherham, the foolish old man, had lost his head and given the Great Seal back to the Queen though no sooner had he committed this act of folly than he had attempted to retrieve it. He had been too late, however; the Queen had gone and when it was realised what he had done he had naturally been deprived of his office.

It would be fitting now for Gloucester to bring the King to London.

So all was going according to plan. Gloucester could be sure that if Edward could look down from Heaven he would approve of what had been done. He had decided that it would be unwise to send Rivers, Grey and Vaughan to the same place of imprisonment and far safer to keep them separately confined. Rivers should go to Sheriff Hutton as originally intended, Richard Grey to Middleham and Vaughan to Pontefract.

He was now prepared to march on London. The King was a little sullen; he showed clearly that he did not like his uncle Gloucester and deeply resented that the uncle of whom he was very fond should with his half-brother be taken away from him.

Gloucester tried to talk to the boy of his father and how friendly they had been as brothers. Gloucester reminded the young King of his motto Loyaulte me lie which he had always adhered to and on which the late King had always been able to rely. Gloucester implied that he would now transfer that loyalty to the new King.

‘Why, Edward,’ he said, ‘you are your father’s son, my own nephew. To whom should I owe my loyalty but to you?’

Edward listened politely but there was a sullen line to his mouth.

‘Perhaps,’ he said, ‘you could bring my uncle Lord Rivers to me for I do not know of what he can possibly be accused.’

‘He will have a fair trial and then you will understand.’

‘I do not need a trial to tell me that he is innocent of all wrong doing,’ said the King.

‘You are loyal to those you believe to be your friends and that is admirable,’ was all Gloucester said.

He was eager to show the King that he wanted to take nothing from him. All he wanted to do was set him on the throne and help him to govern wisely.

On the fourth of May – the day the Woodvilles had selected for his coronation – Edward the Fifth rode into London.

He was attired in blue velvet which became him well and his fair hair falling to his shoulders made of him a pretty sight. The people cheered him, though they had had their fill of Kings who were minors and knew that good rarely came of them. What England needed was a strong king – a man such as this boy’s father had been.