Did Richard III Want To Commit Incest With His Niece, Elizabeth of York?

From History Calling

Did Richard III want to marry his niece, Elizabeth of York, despite the fact that it would have been an incestuous royal union and he was widely suspected of murdering her brothers, the Princes in the Tower? Or is this one of the greatest pieces of Tudor propaganda ever created, designed to destroy Richard III's reputation and strengthen the Tudor claim to the English throne? In this Plantagenet history documentary from History Calling on YouTube and Patreon, I look at one of medieval England's most sensational royal scandals; the rumours that Elizabeth of York and Richard III had an affair (a story spurred on by historical fiction writer, Phillipa Gregory) and that the last Plantagenet King wanted to commit incest with his niece, who ended becoming the wife of Henry VII and the mother of Henry VIII. I’ll look at the original historical sources including the letter in which Elizabeth of York supposedly said that she hoped to marry Richard, at Richard III’s official denial of any plans to marry her after the death of Anne Neville, his first (and only) wife and at what he said his actual plans were for the marriages of the daughters of Edward IV, who had been his older brother. Rather than repeating myths, this video separates fact from speculation by comparing contemporary evidence with later interpretations. Whether you believe Richard III was an ambitious king making a calculated political move or the victim of centuries of hostile propaganda, the historical record is far more complex than popular culture often suggests. If you're interested in Richard III, Elizabeth of York, the Wars of the Roses, medieval England, the Plantagenets, the Tudors, royal history, English kings and queens or historical mysteries, this video offers a balanced examination of one of the most controversial questions in English history. So if you enjoy carefully researched history that challenges popular assumptions while remaining faithful to the evidence, consider subscribing for more videos exploring the people, politics, and controversies that shaped medieval and early modern England and Britain.