Interesting Factoid

Hello all,

I've just returned from a brief trip to London. While there, I
visited the Tower and took the standard Yeoman Warder tour.

There were a couple of differences I noted in the presentation and in
what I saw, compared to my previous visit about two years ago:

1. When the Yeoman Warder talked about the Bloody Tower and the two
princes, he mentioned that most people /thought/ that Richard had
killed them, but that other candidates included the Duke of
Buckingham and Henry Tudor (I stuck around for a second tour and
heard the same thing from a different Yeoman Warder.) On my previous
visit, the blame for the murders was laid squarely at Richard's feet.
Neither visit mentioned the grisly nature of Margaret, Countess of
Salisbury's execution whereas the tour two years ago did.

2. The plaque on Tower Green. The two relevant entries on the plaque
were:
Margaret, Countess of Salisbury
Last Plantagenet Princess
28 May 1541

and

Lord Hastings
was also beheaded near the spot
in 1483

I don't recall the bit about Margaret having been referred to as a
Plantagenet Princess before, but the thing that really stuck out in
my mind was the mention of Hastings. I'm going through photos from my
previous visit to confirm this, but I could swear that the last time
I was at the Tower, the plaque read something much more like
William, Lord Hastings
Executed on 13 June 1483
by the order of Richard, Duke of Gloucester


Could it be that the official line (at least at the Tower) is
softening a bit?

-Kellie

--- In , "meenivettle"
<meenivettle@y...> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I've just returned from a brief trip to London. While there, I
> visited the Tower and took the standard Yeoman Warder tour.
>
> There were a couple of differences I noted in the presentation and
in
> what I saw, compared to my previous visit about two years ago:
>
> 1. When the Yeoman Warder talked about the Bloody Tower and the two
> princes, he mentioned that most people /thought/ that Richard had
> killed them, but that other candidates included the Duke of
> Buckingham and Henry Tudor (I stuck around for a second tour and
> heard the same thing from a different Yeoman Warder.) On my
previous
> visit, the blame for the murders was laid squarely at Richard's
feet.
> Neither visit mentioned the grisly nature of Margaret, Countess of
> Salisbury's execution whereas the tour two years ago did.
>
> 2. The plaque on Tower Green. The two relevant entries on the
plaque
> were:
> Margaret, Countess of Salisbury
> Last Plantagenet Princess
> 28 May 1541
>
> and
>
> Lord Hastings
> was also beheaded near the spot
> in 1483
>
> I don't recall the bit about Margaret having been referred to as a
> Plantagenet Princess before, but the thing that really stuck out in
> my mind was the mention of Hastings. I'm going through photos from
my
> previous visit to confirm this, but I could swear that the last
time
> I was at the Tower, the plaque read something much more like
> William, Lord Hastings
> Executed on 13 June 1483
> by the order of Richard, Duke of Gloucester
>
>
> Could it be that the official line (at least at the Tower) is
> softening a bit?
>
> -Kellie

Sounds as if you enjoyed the visit. Wait until 30 April 2013 when the
Society will (hopefully) commemorate the Yorkist martyrs together (it
is Earl Edmund's quincentenary). A hundred Ricardians in black ties
or, perhaps, masks and rubber axes?