Mystery of Princes in the Tower could finally be solved — with help from King Charles

Academics and historians have long conceded that the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the young Princes in the Tower would never be solved during Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.

The late monarch was said to oppose any form of investigation that might reveal how Edward V and his younger brother, Richard, Duke of York, had died.

But Tracy Borman, joint chief curator of Historic Royal Palaces, has suggested that the King may have a different attitude, raising the prospect that it might yet be established how the boys met their deaths in the Tower of London in the 15th-century.

The King, she claimed, is said to take “a very different view” on the subject to his mother, who considered it more appropriate to leave the Princes’ memory to rest in peace.

“He is rumoured to have said he would like an investigation to go ahead, so that we can determine, once and for all, how the young royals died,” she told the Sandon Literature Festival in Staffordshire.

DNA testing needed

However, any forensic testing would also require consent from the Dean of Westminster.

Previous correspondence suggests that the Church of England, backed by the Queen, refused DNA testing on the grounds that it could set a precedent for testing historical theories that would lead to multiple royal disinterments.

In 1483, King Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, aged 12 and nine respectively, were lodged in the Tower of London in preparation for Edward’s coronation.

But before the young king could be crowned, the brothers were declared illegitimate.

According to the narrative handed down by Tudor authorities, and popularised by William Shakespeare, their uncle Richard then had his young nephews murdered before taking the throne for himself.

No conclusive evidence has ever been found of their murder apart from a contested pile of bones discovered under a staircase in the Tower in 1674 and later buried in Westminster Abbey.

Should the King and the Dean both agree, those remains would have to be exhumed for carbon dating.

Chromosomes could be tested if enough DNA

Prof Turi King, a member of the team responsible for identifying the remains of Richard III dug up from a Leicester car park in 2012, said a small sample would first have to undergo radiocarbon dating to determine whether the bones were even from the right period.

“There is nothing to say that they could be Roman or Anglosaxon,” she said.

“If it comes back from the wrong period, you stop right there.

“If they are from the right time period, you would do genetic analysis. We have the Y chromosome of Richard III, which would have come from his biological father, who would have passed it down to Edward IV, who would have passed it down to those two boys.

“If there is sufficient DNA in the remains you could test the Y chromosomes to see if there’s a match.” The process would take several months.

‘Is there enough public interest?’

Prof King added: “Critically, if it happens, it must be done in a very measured, non-sensationalist and scientific manner.

“It should be peer reviewed and published as a scientific study. That’s what we would be advocating.

“To disturb human remains, one must ask, is it warranted? Is there enough public interest in it?

“It’s one of the great mysteries of British history and one that people are very, very interested in, but it would have to be discussed and undertaken in a calm, respectful manner.”

Last year, it was claimed that Edward, the elder of two princes, may have been sent to live on his powerful half-brother’s land as “John Evans”.

Researchers from the Missing Princes Project said they believed they had found clues left behind by Edward that suggested he was secretly living in Coldridge, Devon, on property owned by his half-brother, Sir Thomas Grey.

They suggest the boy king was given the false name John Evans and put in charge of the local deer park.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.