Edward of Westminster Prince of Wales

Edward of Westminster Prince of Wales

Edward of Westminster, or Edward of Lancaster, as he is sometimes known, was the only son of King Henry VI and Queen Margaret of Anjou.

Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster, London on 13th October 1453.

Edwards father Henry VI, had been exhibiting signs of serious mental illness that prevented him from governing the kingdom.

Prior to Edward’s birth, by means of a “sudden fright,” Henry VI entered into a trance-like state, recognising no one.

Catatonic schizophrenia or depressive stupor have been suggested as a likely diagnosis.

There were widespread rumours that Edward was the result of an affair between Queen Margaret and one of her loyal supporters.

Edmund Beaufort – 1st Duke of Somerset, and James Butler – Earl of Wiltshire were both suspected of fathering Prince Edward.

However, there is no firm evidence to support these rumours.
These were most likely fabricated by the Yorkist faction, that the child could not possibly be the feeble-minded king’s.

When Henry VI recovered his senses and was shown his son, he declared himself pleased.

Henry VI declared that Edward must have been fathered by the Holy Ghost.

This only added to the already existing doubts about the child’s paternity.

In 1460, King Henry was captured by the Yorkists at the Battle of Northampton, and taken to London as their prisoner.

The Duke of York was appointed Protector of England. However, Margaret of Anjou – true to character – was not going to accept this meekly.

She gathered an army to advance her son’s cause and York, Salisbury and Warwick were forced to flee before her.

When York returned from exile, he laid a formal claim to the throne.
A compromise was agreed on, whereupon by the Act of Accord, Henry VI was to keep the throne for the remainder of his life, but the succession was to go to York and his heirs.

No one for a moment expected that the spirited Margaret of Anjou would accept the disinheriting of her son.
This proved to be the case.

Margaret and Edward meanwhile, fled to Cheshire.
Margaret recruited outlaws and pillagers to aid her, by asking them to pledge themselves to the seven-year-old Edward, as the rightful heir to the crown.

They subsequently reached safety in Wales and travelled on to refuge in Scotland, where Margaret raised support for her son’s cause.

After the Duke of York was slain at the Battle of Wakefield, the large army which Margaret had gathered advanced south.

They defeated the army of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, at the Second Battle of St Albans.
Warwick had brought the captive King Henry with him to this battle, and King Henry was found abandoned, wandering on the battlefield.

Margaret advanced on London but the Londoners, alarmed by news of the Lancastrian army’s pillaging, refused to admit her and she angrily retreated.

York’s son, the future Edward IV, defeated the Lancastrian army at Towton a few weeks later, in a bitter blood bath.

Margaret and Edward fled to Scotland again.
They remained there for three years, before they were forced to set sail to France.

Margaret and Edward maintained a court, while they were in exile in France.
After several years in exile, a major rift between Edward and his erstwhile ally, the powerful Richard Neville, known as ‘Warwick the Kingmaker’ forced Warwick to flee to France.

The discontented Warwick reconciled with the Lancastrian queen.
No mean feat, since they were bitter enemies as Margaret had ex3cuted Warwick’s father.

Warwick is reported to have spent hours on his knees before Margaret would consent to the alliance.

Warwick’s younger daughter Anne Neville was formally betrothed to Edward.

Edward officially married Anne at Angers Cathedral, probably on 13th December 1470.

Warwick duly invaded England on Margaret’s behalf in 1470, resulting in the flight of Edward IV to Burgundy.
Henry VI was released from the Tower of London – and briefly reinstated as king.

A sad and pitiful figure, King Henry was paraded through the streets of London in a shabby blue gown.

Margaret and Edward then set sail for England on 24th March 1470.
They landed the day the Battle of Barnet was fought to learn the disastrous news of Warwick’s defeat and death.

Margaret marched her forces with Prince Edward leading, to join with the Lancastrians in Wales.
These were led by Jasper Tudor, the half-brother of Henry VI.

On 3rd May, a very hot day, the weary Lancastrian forces pitched camp for the night at Tewkesbury.

King Edward forced his army on, in an attempt to halt Margaret’s progress before she reached Wales.

Eighteen-year-old Edward was killed either in the resulting battle, or during its aftermath.

There are several conflicting versions concerning how Prince Edward met his end.
One states he was cut down as he fled north in the aftermath of the battle, another states that following the rout of the Lancastrians, a small contingent of men found Edward near a grove, where he was immediately b-headed on a makeshift block.

Edward’s body was buried at Tewkesbury Abbey.

Queen Margaret, defeated at last by the death of the son she had fought so long and hard for, was taken captive at the end of the battle and imprisoned.

Edward’s widow, Anne Neville, was remarried to Edward IV’s youngest brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the future Richard III.