Anne Woodville of Kent, due to her death in 1489. The marriage produced one son: In 1483, the Woodville family fortunes took a downward spiral with the death of King Edward IV in April. Anne's sister, Elizabeth, as the mother of the new young king Edward V, became the Queen Mother; however, in June 1483, her marriage to the late King was judged to have been invalid because Edward had allegedly been pre-contracted to Lady Eleanor Talbot. King Edward IV's younger brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Lord Protector, claimed the crown for himself on 22 June; this claim was supported by
Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers Richard Woodville (or Wydeville), 1st Earl Rivers (1405 – 12 August 1469) was an English nobleman, best remembered as the father of Queen consort Elizabeth Woodville and the maternal grandfather of Edward V and the maternal great-grandfather of Henry VIII. Born at Maidstone in Kent, Richard Woodville was the son of Richard Wydeville (Woodville), chamberlain to the Duke of Bedford, and Joan Bittlesgate (or Bedlisgate), the daughter of Thomas Bittlesgate of Knightstone in the parish of Ottery St Mary in Devon. He was also grandson of John Wydeville who was Sheriff of Northamptonshire (in 1380,