Edward IV Secretly Marries Elizabeth Woodville

Edward IV Secretly Marries Elizabeth Woodville

Back in the 15th Century, a meeting under an oak tree in Potterspury, Northamptonshire, changed the course of British history.
Legend says, it was here that King Edward IV ~ a man notorious for his womanizing, met the love of his life.
The lady in question, was Elizabeth Woodville.

A great beauty but no fool, Elizabeth firmly withstood Edward’s advances, accepting nothing less from him than than marriage.
Clearly entranced by her, Edward secretly married Elizabeth at Grafton Manor on 1st May 1464.

Edward and Elizabeth went on to have 10 children, but in 15th century England, riven by the Wars of the Roses, there were many rival claims to the English throne.
When Edward IV died in 1483, his brother Richard III obtained the crown over Edward’s sons, the ‘princes in the tower’.

The tree became known as ‘The Queen’s Oak’ for its association with the legend.
The Queen’s Oak caught fire in 1994, possibly by a lightning strike.
It was badly damaged – although a solitary branch survived, until August 1997.
The remains of the tree survive in a field, just east of Potterspury Lodge, off the A5.

🌳 The blacked stump in the centre of the picture, is all that remains of the famous Queen’s Oak.
This is where Edward IV is reputed to have fallen in love with Elizabeth Woodville whilst out hunting in Whittlewood Forest, in 1461.