The Princes in the Tower: How History's Greatest Cold Case was Solved

REVISED PAPERBACK EDITION FEATURING NEW DISCOVERIES After ten years of research, The Missing Princes Project is now concluded and the results are in… 'Philippa Langley has done it again.' - The Times ‘Langley ... understands how to excite people about the past — more so, perhaps, than most academics’ - The New York Times ‘Philippa Langley deserves huge credit for her discoveries.’ - The Spectator ‘a phenomenal untold story.’ - History Hit (Book of the Month) ‘a gripping and ingenious work of historical detection’ - The Wall Street Journal History re-written: how a 540-year-old mystery has been solved. ‘The totality of evidence revealed is astonishing. Following the discovery of King Richard III’s grave in a car park in Leicester in 2012, The Missing Princes Project will again rewrite the history books, redrawing what we know about Richard III and Henry VII and pressing the reset button of history.’ - Philippa Langley In the summer of 1483, two brothers were seen playing in the grounds of the Tower of London, where they’d been lodged by the King’s Council – their uncle, the future Richard III, its chief member. From there the boys seem to vanish from the historical record, and so one of the greatest and most intriguing mysteries of British history was born. Over the centuries, historians have debated tirelessly about the fate of Edward V and Richard, Duke of York: did they die in the Tower? Did they escape? Were they murdered? After astonishing success in locating and laying to rest Richard III, Philippa Langley turns her forensic focus onto this enduring case, teaming up with criminal investigative experts, historians, archivists and researchers from around the world in her groundbreaking The Missing Princes Project. Following ten years of extensive research, investigation and formidable dedication, this landmark study has finally reached completion, with stunning conclusions. In The Princes in the Tower: How History's Greatest Case Was Solved, join Langley as she records the painstaking investigative work undertaken and lays out the evidence to reveal the remarkable untold story. Here she is able, finally, to address any injustice and solve the mystery surrounding the Princes in the Tower once and for all. Compelling in breadth and detail, this book asks its readers to re-examine what they thought they knew about one of our greatest historical mysteries. Perfect for fans of the period and the likes of Dan Jones, Philippa Gregory and Janina Ramirez.

Table of Contents:
Title Copyright Contents Foreword by Nathalie Nijman-Bliekendaal Preface Family Trees Maps Introduction: The Inspiration Part 1 1 The Missing Princes Project: A Cold-Case Investigation 2 The Missing Princes: Edward V and Richard, Duke of York 3 1483: Two Weeks, One Summer 4 The Disappearance: A Timeline Part 2 5 The Sources: Missing, Murdered, Maintained 6 The Suspects: Means, Motive, Opportunity, Proclivity to Kill 7 Richard III: King by Right – The Evidence 8 Sir James Tyrell’s Confession: Fact or Fiction? Part 3 9 Windsor Coffins and a Westminster Urn 10 To Kill a King: The Aftermath of Bosworth 11 In Living Memory: The Mortimer Heirs – A Blueprint Part 4 12 Edward V: Proof of Life by Nathalie Nijman-Bliekendaal and Philippa Langley 13 The Yorkist Invasion of 1487: Edward V and the Second Fleet by Zoë Maula, Dutch Research Group 14 Richard, Duke of York: Proof of Life by Nathalie Nijman-Bliekendaal and Philippa Langley 15 The Journey of the White Rose to the Island of Texel, April–July 1495 by Nathalie Nijman-Bliekendaal and Jean Roefstra Part 5 16 The Family of Edward V and Richard, Duke of York 17 Case Connections 18 Avenues for Exploration 19 Summary and Conclusion 20 Postscript 21 Epilogue Appendix 1 King Richard’s Oath and Promise: Westminster, 1 March 1484 (Modernised) Appendix 2 Edward V: Proof of Life, 16 December 1487 Appendix 3 An Ideal Place to Hide a Prince by John Dike, Lead Researcher, Coldridge Line of Investigation Appendix 4 The Dendermonde Letters, 25 August 1493 Appendix 5 Richard, Duke of York: Proof of Life, c. 1493 Appendix 6 Richard of England: Dresden MS, Signature and Royal Seal, 4 October 1493 Appendix 7 Trois Enseignes Naturelz, 27 November–12 December 1493 by Zoë Maula, Dutch Research Group Appendix 8 Maximilian I: Legal Supplication to Pope Alexander VI on Behalf of Richard, Duke of York, 22 September 1495 (Modernised) Appendix 9 Richard IV’s Proclamation, September 1496 (Modernised) Appendix 10 Maat, and Black & Hackman Reports: ‘Bones in the Urn’, 14 June 2018, 11 November 2021 Timelines Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Contributors Acknowledgements About the Author

About the Author :
PHILIPPA LANGLEY MBE is an historian and award-winning producer, best known for her discovery of Richard III in 2012. She is co-author of the bestselling The Lost King with Michael Jones (first published as The King's Grave, John Murray 2013), and Finding Richard III, the official account of her ‘Looking For Richard Project’. On the ten-year anniversary of discovering Richard III, her extraordinary story was released as the internationally acclaimed major feature film, The Lost King, directed by Sir Stephen Frears and starring Sally Hawkins. Her latest venture, ‘The Missing Princes Project’, is an international initiative based on rigorous original research to unveil the truth behind one of history’s greatest mysteries.

Review :
‘The discoveries in this book shed new light on events surrounding the Princes in the Tower. Rather than favour Tudor propaganda or Victorian revisionism, this asks us to go back to the time and scrutinise evidence with fresh eyes.’ ‘Philippa Langley has earned a reputation for tenacious and meticulous research based on sound principles of piecing together centuries-old records … The remarkable discoveries documented here are only the beginning.’ ‘The Princes in the Tower is a gripping and ingenious work of historical detection. Ms. Langley and her team have cast new light into a murky period, and with a methodological brilliance that eludes most academic historians.’ ‘Philippa Langley has done it again.’ ‘… a phenomenal, untold story.’ ‘(The) story is fascinating, and researcher Philippa Langley deserves huge credit for her discoveries.’ ‘Langley ... understands how to excite people about the past - more so, perhaps, than most academics.’ ‘a brilliantly told, spellbinding and compelling story.’ ‘Bombshell new evidence.’ ‘Langley may have shifted the dial.’ ‘One of the joys of this book is the space it provides for contemporary witness statements. Their voices seem real, baffled and intimate. You feel privileged to have a ring-side seat as the case for the defence is presented ... a very different Richard III emerges from the mists of time.’