For over 400 years, Richard III has been seen as Britain’s most infamous king — a power-hungry usurper who killed his young nephews to clear the way to the throne.
In Shakespeare’s “Richard III,” the king tells an assassin, “I wish the bastards dead,” referring to the princes Edward V and Richard.
“And I would have it suddenly performed.”But the king’s murderous image, drawn from history books and cemented in literature and lore, is just not true — or, at least, it has not been proven true, argues Philippa Langley, an author and independent historian.
“Maybe there is evidence,” she said over a cup of tea in Edinburgh earlier this year.
“But there seems to be no evidence.”
Persons:
Richard III, Shakespeare’s “ Richard III, “, Edward V, Richard, Philippa Langley, ”
Locations:
Edinburgh