Charles II and the Discovery of the 'Princes in the Tower' in 1674

On 17 July 1674, two skeletons were discovered inside the Tower of London. Many believed they were the Princes in the Tower – 12-year-old Edward V and 9-year-old Richard, Duke of York.

The boys disappeared in 1483 during the Wars of the Roses, creating one of the biggest mysteries in British history. Then, nearly 200 years after they vanished, Charles II re-interred the two skeletons from the Tower in their names at Westminster Abbey.

Here, Tower of London Curator Charles Farris explores one of the most famous discoveries in the Tower’s history – a small chapter in the continuing mystery of the Princes in the Tower.

Painting of two boys on a four-post bed, watching a doorway — *Image: A 19th-century depiction of the Princes in the Tower, after Paul Delaroche. © Historic Royal Palaces*

Exterior view of the White Tower. — *Image: The skeletons were found by labourers when parts of the Tudor and Medieval Palace, to the south of the White Tower, were demolished. © Historic Royal Palaces*

The Discovery

Charles II's reign witnessed some of the most famous chapters in the Tower of London’s long history. His was the last coronation to begin with a grand procession from the Tower to Westminster. The Crown Jewels went on display to the public for the first time during his reign, and in 1671 the dastardly Colonel Blood tried to steal them. Yet, perhaps most famous of all was the discovery of two skeletons, who were assumed to be the missing Princes in the Tower.

The skeletons were found by labourers when parts of the Tudor and Medieval Palace, to the south of the White Tower, were demolished. The Great Fire of 1666 had reminded the authorities that safe storage of gunpowder was of utmost priority, and the topsy-turvy nature of the Tower was being reorganised to better house this most flammable of materials.

While a historical plaque in the White Tower today asserts that the bones were discovered under a staircase inside the White Tower itself, the exact location of the discovery is still debated. Most experts suggest they were discovered outside the White Tower.

According to John Knight, Chief Surgeon to Charles II, the bones were found when ‘digging down the Stairs which led from the King's Lodgings, to the chappel in the said Tower, about ten foot in the ground’. In likelihood this was to the south of the White Tower, used to access the Chapel of St John.

In 1866, Lieutenant-Governor of the Tower Lord De Ros reported that Charles II had ordered Sir Thomas Chichley, the Master General of Ordnance who oversaw the building works in 1674, to plant a mulberry tree on the spot where the ‘Princes’ were discovered. The tree, De Ros noted sadly, was ‘caused to rapid decay’ after a new staircase was added nearby in 1674.

The discovery of the bones near a staircase seemed to comply with Sir Thomas More’s The History of Richard III (1513-1518), which famously accused Richard III of murdering the Princes (his nephews). More recorded that the boys were buried inside the Tower ‘at the stair foot, meetly deep in the ground under a great heap of stones’. Of course, More was no eyewitness and arguably part of the Tudor propaganda machine. He was perhaps at best recounting a tradition present at court and in the Tower.

The White Tower, looking through a doorway towards a plaque marking the place where the skeletons of two boys were found in 1674. The skeletons are believed to have been those of the murdered sons of King Edward IV:12-year-old Edward V and his nine-year-old brother, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. — Image: While a historical plaque in the White Tower today asserts that the bones were discovered under a staircase inside the White Tower itself, the exact location of the discovery is still debated. © Historic Royal Palaces

The 'Princes' Identified

John Knight recalled the bones were quickly identified as the Princes in the Tower. He noted ‘the Bones of two striplings [children] in (as it seemed) a wooden chest, which upon the survey were found proportionable to the ages of those two Brothers viz about thirteen and eleven years.’

Knight reported that the bones were much disturbed: ‘The younger skull was broken, probably by the worker’s tools, and the bones were found ‘as it seemed’ in a wooden chest.’

‘At first the bones were simply tossed aside,’ Knight continued, ‘However, they soon became identified as the missing Princes. Workers then sifted the rubbish heap to retrieve the bones.’

Portrait of a man in a long dark wig and armour — *Image: Charles II by the studio of John Riley, c.1680-1685. © National Portrait Gallery, London*

The 'Princes' Interred

Sir Thomas Chichley informed Charles II of the discovery. Knight recalled that: ‘upon the presumptions that these were the Bones of the said Princes, His Majesty King Charles II, was graciously pleased to command that the said Bones should be put into a Marble Urn, and deposited among the Reliques of the Royal Family in the Chapel of King Henry the Seventh, in Westminster Abbey.'

Preparations for the internment were put into action, and no expense was spared. On 18 February 1675 Sir Christopher Wren was issued with a warrant ordering him to provide the urn. Wren is considered by many to be Britain’s greatest architect – perhaps best known for designing St Paul’s Cathedral and re-modelling Hampton Court Palace.

After Wren’s designs, the monument was executed by Joshua Marshall, the King’s Master Mason. Marshall was an equally prestigious choice, executing such well-known sculptures as London’s Monument to the Great Fire of 1666 and the equestrian statue of Charles I at Charing Cross.

The urn was installed in the Henry VII Chapel in 1678.

Here lie the relics of Edward V, King of England, and Richard, Duke of York... whose bones, long enquired after and wished for, after 191 years in the rubbish of the stairs (those lately leading to the Chapel of the White Tower) were on the 17th day of July 1674, by undoubted proofs discovered, being buried deep in that place.

Excerpt from the Latin Inscription from the Urn in Westminster Abbey containing the bones discovered at the Tower in 1678

Previous Discoveries

This was not the first time bones speculated to be the Princes had been discovered at the Tower. Reports suggest that the bones of a child had been found in a ‘high desolate turrett’ at the Tower, presumed to be one of the Princes, in 1623. Then in the early 1600s, two skeletons were reportedly discovered in a bricked-up room near the King’s Lodgings at the Tower.

Yet, neither of these discoveries seems to have been taken seriously by the crown. It seems unlikely they would not have been informed, and so we can speculate that they decided the discoveries were not worth their attention. So why was Charles II’s reaction so different?

A half-length portrait of King Charles I showing him in armour — Image: King Charles I, after Sir Anthony van Dyck, based on a work of 1635-1636. Charles I was executed outside the Banqueting House at Whitehall on 30 January 1649. © National Portrait Gallery, London

The King's Motives

Charles II’s exact motives for supporting the association of the bodies with the Princes in the Tower may never be known. Perhaps he hoped that his public commitment to his ancestors would be an appropriate demonstration of his fitness to rule. It seems likely that there was also something about the story of the Princes, and the idea of righting past wrongs to the monarchy that resonated with him. The deposition and murder of Edward V must have felt very tangible and personal to a king whose own father was deposed and executed just 25 years before.

For Charles II, the newly interred ‘Princes’ in Westminster Abbey provided a potent example of past wrongs corrected. Like the newly forged Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, they were powerful symbols of the restored monarchy. Just as Charles had returned to the Tower of London to process to his coronation in 1660, and (albeit temporarily) restored a centuries-old tradition; in 1678 he publicly interred two of his 'ancestors' in the traditional burial place of English kings. All of these provided powerful symbols of the past and future of the monarchy.

The Mystery Endures

The identity of the children discovered at the Tower of London in 1674 may never be known. Similarly, the fate of the Princes in the Tower may forever lie beyond our understanding. However, this should not deter us from asking questions and embarking on new research. Research is a journey we learn from even if we don’t arrive at our anticipated destination.

What seems likely is that the debate surrounding these mysteries will endure for centuries to come. While we strive to be scientific and definitive, those goals are impossible to achieve. Even as new evidence emerges, old records are reassessed, and research techniques are developed, it seems unlikely consensus will ever be reached. As always, the work of the historian is never truly done.

Charles Farris
Public Historian for the History of the Monarchy
Historic Royal Palaces