Most
people visit the Tower of London to see the Crown Jewels. Once
they arrive, they realise the Tower is famous for other things
that have happened there. Perhaps one of the most gruesome stories
is about the two princes.
About five hundred years ago,
King Edward IV, the King of England, died. He had two young
sons, Prince Edward, aged 12, and his brother, Prince Richard,
aged 9. After the king's death the boys were taken to live
in the Tower of London by their uncle, Richard. Richard wanted
people to believe Edward was being trained to take over the
throne from his late father.
Nothing could be further from
the truth!
Before long, the two boys
were mysteriously and brutally murdered in their beds. One
boy was stabbed, the other suffocated with a pillow. Their
bodies disappeared overnight. And ... "Uncle" Richard
became King Richard III.
It was not until 200 years
later that the bones of two young children were found buried
in a chest close to the White Tower. The king of the time,
William III, believed the bodies were the two princes. He
ordered them to be buried at Westminster Abbey, where many
English kings and queens are buried. Although they had now
received a proper burial, the ghosts of the young princes
were still not at rest.
To this day, many people have
seen the figures of two young children in white nightgowns
walking hand-in-hand around the grounds of the Tower.
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