EDWARD OF WESTMINSTER: ROSE WITHOUT FLOWER

Henry VI’S heir was showing signs of burgeoning kingship before his untimely death

Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, spent most of his short life growing up in exile and the shadow of war. Born in 1453, he was the treasured only son of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou. He witnessed his first battle when he was seven years old at the Second Battle of St Albans in February 1461, which apparently toughened his spirit. While he and his mother were living in exile in 1467 the Milanese ambassador to France reported, “He already talks of nothing but cutting off heads or making wars, as if he had everything in his hands or was the god of battle or the peaceful occupant of that (English) throne.” A fellow exile Sir John Fortescue also remarked, “As soon as he became grown up he gave himself over to martial exercises… and he often delighted in attacking and assaulting the young companions attending him.”

The youth was clearly nothing like his father and appeared to be more like his warmongering grandfather Henry V. Nevertheless, this ruthless potential would be destroyed at Tewkesbury where Prince Edward was killed aged 17. The manner of his death is disputed. Most historians agree that he was killed in the fighting. Others claim he was captured by his brother-in-law the Duke of Clarence, who ordered him to be murdered despite the prince’s pleas for mercy. The most famous, and least likely, story is that the prince was captured and brought before Edward IV who demanded to know why he had taken up arms against him. The prince apparently replied that he had come to reclaim his father’s kingdom, whereupon Edward IV promptly executed him. Whatever the truth, Prince Edward was dead before other Lancastrian leaders were unceremoniously removed from Tewkesbury Abbey in defeat. He was buried in the abbey itself, along with the Lancastrian dynasty.