The Secret Queen: Eleanor Talbot, the Woman Who Put Richard III on the Throne

When Edward IV died in 1483, the Yorkist succession was called into question by doubts about the legitimacy of his son, Edward (one of the "Princes in the Tower"). The crown passed to Edward's undoubtedly legitimate younger brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. But those who believed in the legitimacy of Edward IV’s children viewed Richard III’s accession with suspicion. From the day when Edward IV married Eleanor, or pretended to do so, the House of York confronted an uncertain future. This book argues that Eleanor Talbot was married to Edward IV, therefore Edward’s subsequent marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was bigamous, making her children illegitimate. It also offers a solution to one of history's great mysteries, by putting forward groundbreaking new evidence that calls into question the identity of the "bones in the urn" in Westminster Abbey, believed for centuries to be the remains of the "Princes in the Tower."