The Princes in the Tower Alison Weir

The Princes in the Tower: A Review
Alison Weir examines one of England’s oldest murder mysteries in her historical investigation into the deaths of the Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York. While most English readers are familiar with the treachery of Richard III thanks to Shakespeare’s play of the same name, Weir throws a magnifying glass over the facts of the case to explore whether the popular legend (that Richard III killed the two young princes) is true after all. The book reads like a spellbinder, supplying the reader with all the background story, clues and details to draw the reader to the conclusion that Richard III was indeed the culprit and that his treachery was what enabled him to soar so quickly to political heights—only to fall just as rapidly under the weight of his own duplicity. As Weir notes, her objective with Princes in the Tower was not to sensationalize the story: she states, “the book was not written with the intention of fueling the controversy, but because there is a need for the subject to be dealt with from an objective viewpoint” (1)—and Weir bases that viewpoint on logic and research.
The synopsis of The Princes in the Tower is that Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York, were next in line for the crown in England following the death of Edward IV in 1483. Richard of Gloucester maneuvered to have the princes declared illegitimate by pointing to the pre-contract of marriage that Edward IV had held with Lady Eleanor Butler. Richard got Parliament to issue the Titulus Regius which was issued the following year. Meanwhile, Gloucester was crowned as next in line and the suddenly illegitimate princes were whisked away to the Tower and never seen again. The perspective used throughout the book is that of the historian, interested only in the facts. Like a good prosecutor, Weir lays out the character of Richard, establishes a motive, and unspools the circumstances and evidence surrounding the treachery.
The main theme of Weir’s book is that the facts of the case are what matter: fanciful speculation or bias (either for or against Richard) has no place in the book. She describes her sources and lays them before the reader, citing Mancini’s earlier history as a fair and reputable one that should reasonably be considered as legitimate. Weir states that Mancini was “a man of integrity” who “confined himself only to the facts, and avoided falling into the habit affected by so many contemporary writers, that of using historical facts to illustrate a lesson in morality” (2). In other words, Weir sets out to validate the history presented by Mancini. For that reason, the book is full of information surrounding the main characters involved.
The reader should thus come away from the reading with a firm grasp of who was involved in the murders of the young princes and what the motive was. Appropriately, Weir opens the book with two excerpts from Shakespeare’s Richard III, which describe both the deaths of the young boys and the terror at the root of Richard’s soul for having ordered their deaths. These excerpts foreshadow the conclusion that Weir reaches, which is that Richard III was the culprit for their deaths and it is a fitting opening to the book, since the character of Richard is so eloquently embedded in English lore thanks to the Bard’s treatment of the historical person on the stage. The writing is effective, informative and even-keeled. It is never sensational or too dry but comes across as both academic with a sense of the dramatic nature of the story. The information is accurate and logically presented.
This is a very enjoyable book and the reader should feel like he is being given a very fair and balanced perspective on a real historical event. What is most interesting is the manner in which Richard initially garnered his support. When compared to the dramatic plot of Shakespeare’s tragedy, Weir’s book comes across more as a political procedural. What is most striking about the book is the way that Weir brings Richard’s own character to life. She provides a very convincing motive for wanting to kill the princes. The outrageousness of the declaration of illegitimacy that was leveled by Parliament against the princes is also striking: but once corrupt, always corrupt, it could be said.
Weir’s book The Princes in the Tower takes an objective look at the facts surrounding the murders of Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York. It lays the blame for the murders squarely at the feet of the treacherous Richard III, who manipulated to have the two princes declare illegitimate that he might worm his way to the throne. Then, to solidify his power and eliminate them as a threat, he had them executed. The books claims are based on evidence all throughout and like an expert lawyer, Weir presents the information to the reader as though the reader were the jury tasked with weighing the evidence. The most important point about the book is that Weir is always true to her word to investigate the matter thoroughly. She delves into the lives of the major players, provides an extensive review of Richard’s character, describes his motives, paints the scene in England in the latter half of the 15th century convincingly and never suggests that what she reports could ever be considered a stretch of the imagination. In the final analysis, Weir’s judgment against Richard must also be the reader’s.
Works Cited
Weir, Alison. The Princes in the Tower. NY: Ballantine Books, 2011.