Quote:
Originally Posted by Wearever
[...] Richards Brother the King Edward the lV obviously had no problem with the Woodville uncles surrounding his son Edward V. Richard was happy in York by accounts. On his death bed he reconsidered and appointed Richard Protector not the Woodvilles. A conciliatory act perhaps. But as soon as Richard comes within striking distance of the Woodvilles he acts against them.
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I'm just reaching the relevant part of Philippa Gregory's imaginings in
The White Queen. I already know (from Wikipedia) she's going to frame Beaufort, so I find it interesting to see that she is setting us up to not trust Richard - just named Protector by her dying husband, Edward IV. Elizabeth Woodville distrusts Richard so much that she sends to her brother Anthony to raise an army to defend her son Edward V and bring him to London to be crowned ASAP, while Hastings - ever loyal to Edward IV and his wishes - sends to Richard warning him.
So what we end up with is two armies that, ostensibly, want the same thing: to see Edward V protected and crowned. But neither trusts the other to see it done without disenfranchising their side's interests. (Meanwhile this poor 12yo kid is stuck in the middle; in theory he is an all-powerful king, but in practice he's just a pawn to other interests.) I'm expecting that Margaret Beaufort is going to sneak up in the middle of this confusion and take advantage - but haven't read that far yet.
Details aside, the idea that we may have this sort of confusion seems a realistic interpretation, to me. I can almost imagine now, without Gregory's help, how the two boys are going to get lost in the jostling for position, and that this confusion may explain how their disappearance becomes a mystery.