In Philippa Gregory’s The Cousins’ War series, Elizabeth of York falls in love with King Richard III while she is serving as a lady in waiting for Queen Anne Neville. So what? – You may ask. Did I mention that Richard III is her uncle who had declared his brother’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville invalid and made all their children (including Elizabeth of York) bastards? Did I mention that Elizabeth of York’s brothers (the heir to the throne) had gone mysteriously missing while under the guardianship of him?
It seemed extraordinary that out of all men, Elizabeth would fall for someone who had ousted her family out of their rightful place. And I was dying to know if Richard did flaunted their courtship in order to weaken her family’s alliance with the House of Lancaster who were continuous threat to his throne.
So how much of this is a creation of a novellist, and how much of it is a fact?
The speculation of their incestuous relationship actually dates back a long way – to their very own time.
After Richard’s wife Anne Neville’s death in March 1485, rumours spread that the King intended to marry his niece, Elizabeth. Although a marriage between uncle and niece was not strictly forbidden by the church, it had caused much revulsion among the councilors, and Richard’s most trusted men Ratcliffe and Catesbury warned him that such decision would lose support of Northerners as it would seem Richard had caused the death of his wife in order to marry Elizabeth. Twelve doctors of divinity were also summoned by Parliament to put forward their objections and Richard then publicly denied the accusation.
There is also an account by Sir George Buck, an antiquarian and Master of the Revels to King James I of England, claiming that he has seen a letter from Elizabeth to the 1st Duke of Norfolk asking him:
“to be a mediator for her in the cause of [the marriage] to the king who was her only joy and the maker in the world, and that she was his hart, in thought, and in all, and then she intimated that the better half of Feb was past, and that she feared the queen would never [die].”
Unfortunately the original letter failed to survive and his account cannot be validated.
It is also worth bearing in mind that Richard opened negotiations for himself to be marry Joanna, the sister of the King of Portugla, and Elizabeth to marry Joanna’s cousin, Duke of Beja. The negotiations came to a sudden halt with the news of the Battle of Bosworth.
From my research trudging through resources online, it seems that factual evidences to prove or disprove the speculation is too scarce to draw any assertive conclusion on Richard’s feeling for his niece. The air of unease and suspicion surrounding the supposed romance seems obvious, but again the evidence is only circumstantial. The supposed letter written by Elizabeth may or may not have existed, and Richard’s marriage negotiations with Portugal does not necessarily deny the feelings they may have shared together.
For those of you who would like to read deeper on evidences surrounding this supposed romance, try:
“Yorkists: The History of a Dynasty” by Anne Crawford or “Elizabeth of York; The Forgotten Tudor Queen” by Amy Licence.
Windsbird: Footprints around the world 
November 6, 2019 at 07:11
Elizabeth Woodville had used her beauty to snare a king. She would not have hesitated to tell her daughter to charm Richard in order to gain a throne. Elizabeth of York had been raised with the expectation of becoming a queen. There had been negotiations during Edward IV’s lifetime for a marriage between her and the Dauphin. Marrying Richard was actually Elizabeth of York’s best bet for gaining a crown. Anne probably had been in ill health for some time. The death of Edward of Middleton had been quite a blow to Anne’s already fragile health. Personally, I believe Anne died from consumption. In other words, it was probably apparent for some time that Richard would be in need of a second wife who could provide a male heir. There certainly was no need to poison an already fatally ill wife. Richard may have loved his wife, but political expediency would have made it clear after his son’s death and his wife’s illness that he needed to plan for a second marriage. If Edward IV could make a knight’s widow his queen, Richard III probably thought he could also make Elizabebeth of York a queen. I do not think Elizabeth regarded Richard as her brothers’ murderer because I think the princes were alive during this period. She undoubtedly thought it was better to be a queen than the sister of a king. If Richard wanted to thwart a marriage between Elizabeth of York and Henry Tudor, all he had to do was marry her off to anyone else. I, therefore, think that the letter citing Elizabeth’s impatience with how long it was taking for Anne to die accurately reflects Elizabeth’s sentiments. Remember Elizabeth was just a teenager at the time and she was probably self-centered and spoilt. When Henry Tudor did marry Elizabeth of York,it took him a long time to trust her. He was afraid she would try to influence him the way her mother had exerted her will on her father. Henry Tudor felt he had to keep her in her place. He was wary of her. Elizabeth of York as a married woman is portrayed a meek and compliant, but perhaps she was forced to be submissive. From her standpoint, Elizabeth probably thought Richard would have been more compatible than Richard. A firm believer in the idea that there’s no smoke without fire, I believe that a marriage between Richard and Elizabeth was a source of speculation. It can not, centuries later, be determined how seriously it was contemplated. Richard’s advisers would have been against such a marriage because they would not wanted to see Elizabeth with her Woodville blood restored to power. I think the closeness of Richard and Elizabeth allowed people to speculate about a possible marriage. Richard could have stopped all the speculation by arranging honorable marriages for his brothers’ daughters or placing them in convents.. Significantly, he did not.
February 25, 2018 at 02:03
Elizabeth of York was given two books by her uncle, Richard III-Tristan and Iseult and Boethius Consolatio Philosophiae. In the first book, Elizabeth wrote her motto-“Without Changing” under Richard’s signature. In the second book, she curiously wrote Richard’s motto “Loyalte me Lie” and then signed her name.
Here is why I find this funny. If you knew this history then you know Tristan is forced to kill Iseult’s maternal uncle in a power struggle the uncle started but in which they both see themselves as justified. The parallel here is clear. This is before Tristan meets Iseult – EoY comes from sanctuary. After meeting Iseult Tristan is treated for an illness by her – Richard comforted by EoY after EoM’s death. Tristan and Iseult fall in love over their shared love of music – Richard and EoY both liked music. Circumstances (her mother’s rage) force them apart but eventually the mother comes to terms with Tristan and recognizes he did what he had to Again, parallels are obvious. However, Tristan has to marry Iseult to someone else, they have no choice, but tell each other their love lasts. For bonus points, Iseult”s mother is claimed to be a ‘sorceress’ by some. Tristan marries someone else but he loves only Iseult and his marriage is chaste – Richard is married to Anne but their marriage seemed to flounder by that time and remember richard tried to arrange a marriage between him and johanna of Portugal after Anne’s death, Joahana never married and was know because her professed chastity she was sanctified by church years later.
Does anyone else see the irony?
May 4, 2017 at 01:54
For years, I have had this unexplained connection to Richard the Third since I was a child, don’t know why, read many books about Richard the Third and even wrote at least 2 papers on various subjects on this man. nevertheless, I disagree with Anonymous assertion that Richard was in negotiations to marry Joanna of Portugal. We have to consider a fact that Joanna was much advanced in age and had never given birth to children, Richard would certainly never agree to marry even for political advantages to a women that could not bear children. It is very true for the aristocracy especially those individuals who rely upon the need to have a male heir and a spare. Look throughout recent history. Queen Victoria had 4 sons, Elizabeth II had 3 sons, and Prince Charles and Lady Diana had 2 sons. Richard lost his wife due to probably from the plague or some unknown sickness not to mention the lost of her son who was reported by several written accounts as being sickly or weak. So NO, Richard would never even consider marrying Joanna. NE LaNeve
April 26, 2017 at 23:49
EoY was NOT betrothed to Henry Tudor. Never was. We do not know Richard’s feelings about his wife. We do not know if he was always faithful either.
An artist’s rendition of his face with truly human features, not that doll they came up with, shows a very handsome man. A man with money, looks, and fame who travels a lot meets a lot of groupies. I would not be the least surprised if he took advantage once in awhile and was discreet about it.
He slept with Anne, yes. She was supposed to conceive.
Now it seems to me a man accustomed to willing girls develops a real.liking for women. The gossip about Elizabeth began probably when the privy council was told Richard had quit Anne’s bed.
The privy council would have to know that.
I think Elizabeth latched onto his neediness at this time. I think Richard was a man who needed to be needed. He was lost. People saw them talking, maybe spending time together and the rumours were born.
April 11, 2015 at 19:20
Omg No, he never thought of marrying her, Richard specifically was planning marry Joanna of Portugal, this all well known, and Gregory utterly ignores this, he was also planning on marry EOY to the later Manuel I of Portugal. Envoys left six days after Queen Anne died, meaning that these plans had to be long in place, and mostly likely started up during February when it became apparent Queen Anne wasn’t going to live.
Also that account that claims Richard had to be “convinced” not to marry her is full of crap, there’s no way in the middle ages you’re getting 12 doctors of divinity together at one place in such a short period of time. Also it wouldn’t have been Ratcliffe and Catesbury who be telling Richard he couldn’t marry EOY, they were both low born nobility, if anyone would have it would have been John Howard, Duke of Norfolk and Sir Francis Lovell. But surprisingly those two are barely mentioned in that document about Richard’s court (Written a year after his death), that alone raises suspicion in the document, that two key figures in Richard’s court would be left out.
And you’re ignoring that fact that Richard went before London and said he neither poisoned his wife or planning on marrying EOY, something that was completely unprecedented. He even “Showed his grief” during this speech. And Richard imprisons people who still spread the rumor afterwards, and Richard makes no moves to get a papal dispensation in order to marry her.
Richard had long been in love with his wife, it was a well known fact that Richard hated “open adultery” and had remained faithful to his wife for the 10 years they married, one of the many reasons Richard doesn’t appears at his brothers court so often is because he disliked Edward IV open adultery, after there son’s death Richard takes Anne to her favorite castle and refuses to part from her side. Richard is still sleeping with Anne until Doctors order him out of her bed in January of 1485. There is nothing but this made up letter to suggest any feelings. Richard specifically made other marriage plans for EOY (Probably because his own bastard daughter Katherine had been married by this point) and made some for himself.
Also EOY is sent from court after Queen Anne’s death, meaning she was probably closer to Queen Anne then Richard, given that as a lady to the Queen she would have spent most of her time with Anne. Anne seems to show EOY great favor and they were similar in appearance and Anne probably shared a dress with her during the Christmas festivals of 1484, probably during some type of dance.
So yea most true historians completely discredit this rumor, the only ones who think it’s true are people like Michael Hicks and Alison Weir, both whom openly hate Richard and use the rumor to blacken his name.
March 5, 2017 at 03:43
(AmazingCat) At a distance of over 500 hundred years, about a man whom you did not personally know, and lacking the ability to read minds, how can you claim by any authority to know what were and were not the thoughts of Richard III? What King Richard III said about not poisoning his wife or desiring to Mary his niece should not be naïvely taken as truth on face value. Many of his subjects at the time certainly didn’t, given his infamous rise to power. He may have objected to “open adultery”, however, I don’t believe there is any historical documentation that speaks to his either loving his wife, or being a chaste faithful husband all his married life. It does tell us that Richard was not a particularly popular king, nor was he trusted. Hence he would have to take unprecedented steps of reassuring his subjects of what he wanted them to believe, truth or not. So logically in the case of Elizabeth, he would have to act accordingly. What he didn’t want was Henry Tudor/Elizabeth of York marriage, suspect if she really were a proven bastard princess, as he tried to make so legally binding. That he tried to find her a suitable husband anywhere near the rank she had been accustomed too, furthers the suspicion. Before claiming that a historical document(letter) is made up, there should be evidence of it falsity. However, I don’t believe there was a romantic relationship between Elizabeth of York and Richard III. I can’t prove it, I think its very unlikely. Elizabeth interest did not lay with Richard but with Henry. I think that became more apparent to her as Richards reign was coming to it’s end, her mother certainly knew it. Alison Weir does acknowledge this in her later book “Elizabeth of York”, in which she discredit this rumor. A true historian as she is, does not need to blacken the Duke of Glousters name, pre-Tudor documentation reveals that he along with the Duke of Buckingham, did the blackening all by themselves. I don’t think she hates Richard for not accepting based on historical evidence that he was some maligned, innocent king. The false narrative perpetuated by the Richard III society. I think that to get at the real King Richard III you have to ignore Shakespeare’s exaggerations, and almost completely ignore the Richard III Society, and let contemporaries of his time do most of the talking, which is what real historians do. Phillipa Gregory is not a true historian.
October 20, 2013 at 06:33
Henry Tudor set aside any suspicion of a relationship and that is what counted. He first had to have Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville marriage declared legal before he could marry Elizabeth of York. Then in their marriage essentially War of the Roses ended. Unlike her mother Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth of York did not hold political sway as her mother did. Her claim to fame was that she was the mother of Henry VIII and the grandmother to Elizabeth I daughter of the ill fated Anne Boleyn.
August 29, 2019 at 12:32
Phillipa Gregory has her PhD in British history, folks don’t give her due. She doesn’t claim to write history books, so why do folks slam her? She probably has more truth in her books than some historians do. I am sad to say that’s most of my social studies books from school (circa 1978ish) are full of non truths) Like the midnight ride of Paul Revere, Chris Colombus discovered America, George Washington never told a lie…. Etc…. Ben Franklin discovered electricity… So… Give her her due