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[with some editing errors removed]

Richard's brother and predecessor Edward had previously been married, and so his known children were bastards in the eyes of the Church (remember that this was before Henry VIII, before the schism, before divorce) and ineligible for the throne. The Parliament issued the Titulus Regius spelling out the succession, which pushed aside the children in favor of Richard, who was not therefore a usurper, but the legitimate monarch.

Richard III was surrounded by treasonous jerkoffs in the employ of his foe. The traitors pulled him off his horse, and stabbed him as he lay in the full weight of his armor, shouting "treason!"

After Richard had been murdered on the field, Henry demanded that the Titulus Regius be rescinded and destroyed. This relegitimized the children, making them heirs to the throne. Henry promptly (indeed, probably before) had the brothers murdered, married their sister, and reunified the Houses of Lancaster and York (although his claim to be Lancastrian was weak).

Henry had to have the children relegitimized, otherwise the sister wouldn't be an heiress. But that necessitated murdering the "little Princes" because they had a much better claim to the throne than Henry (or their own sister). This act also turned Richard III into a usurper.

Later, Henry VII offered to pardon one of his henchmen if he'd own up to the murder and say that he'd been ordered to do it by Richard III. The henchman did this. Henry VII then had him executed.

Henry Tudor, who though nothing but a pretender, was enormously well connected and had a number of ruthless and murderous allies in England. The vicious acts of his descendants are well within the context of his nature and that of his family.

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I think it was Richard, not Henry that bumped off the Little Princes. Richard was a the kind of thug that Hilliary would be proud of.

Here's an interesting piece of Brit history. I read in a book entitled "The History of England" published in the 1860's. It states that Longshank's son, Edward II got in a lot of trouble with a Spencer and Parliament made a law that no Spencer should ever be King. This is Lady Di's line. It sounds like legally William or Henry can't inherit the throne. May get interesting.