🔎It's been over 500 years since two young royals disappeared from the Tower of London, apparently murdered by Richard III.
Yet he may have been innocent, according to a team led by the woman who found the King’s remains under a car park
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telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/12/2…
Researchers say that the older boy Edward may not have been murdered, but instead secretly allowed to live on his half-brother’s land under a false name.
📜They followed a trail of medieval documents to rural Devon, where royal Yorkist symbols are carved in the local church
👑Inside, an effigy of a mysterious man named ‘John Evans’ gazes directly at a stained glass window revealed to depict Edward V, the missing prince himself.
The research suggests that Edward V and John Evans were one and the same, and that he may have even left clues
➡️The Missing Princes Project has more than 100 lines of inquiry including the possible fate of the younger brother, Richard of Shrewsbury.
The team is led by Philippa Langley, who commissioned the dig that found the bones of Richard III under a Leicester car park in 2012
👤If Edward was indeed John Evans, then he kept quiet for years until around 1511, when he built his own chantry at the local St Matthew’s church.
Laden with symbolism and hidden meaning, it is here that the researchers claim Evans left multiple clues to his true identity
Only two other glass portraits of Edward are thought to exist, including one in the royal window of Canterbury Cathedral.
💬“Why is a royal portrait of Edward V in this rural church in the middle of nowhere? It simply doesn’t belong here. Evans appears to be sending a message”
✒️On the tomb itself, the name ‘John Evans’ is incorrectly spelt EVAS, with the last letter possibly broken off by vandals.
Researchers believe it may hold a hidden significance, with EV standing for ‘Edward V’ and AS perhaps referring to "asa", the Latin for “in sanctuary”
👑Below the inscription, a medieval scrawl appears to show the inverted word KING.
Nine carved lines beneath may symbolise 1509, the year that Henry VII died and Edward V could have reclaimed the throne if matters had been resolved
🗣️“Our findings already seem to point in one direction - that Richard III was innocent” said lead researcher John Dike.
Read the full story 👇
telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/12/2…
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