English and British royal mistress relationship between the King and De Vere was of a homosexual nature Edward IV had numerous documented mistresses. The best known was Elizabeth Shore, also called Jane Shore. He reportedly had several illegitimate children: The legitimacy of Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, whom he had secretly wedded in May 1464 without disclosing it to his Parliament until 5 months later, was questioned after Edward's death (9 April 1483) by the Bishop of Bath, Robert Stillington, who claimed he had precontracted in marriage Edward to Lady Eleanor Talbot, daughter of Lord Talbot and widow of Sir Thomas Butler. According to the
Elizabeth Woodville offered the throne and became King Richard III. Edward V, who was no longer king, and his brother Richard, Duke of York, remained in the Tower of London. There are no recorded sightings of them after the summer of 1483. Now referred to as Dame Elizabeth Grey, she and the Duke of Buckingham (a former close ally of Richard III and now probably seeking the throne for himself) now allied themselves with Lady Margaret Stanley (née Beaufort) and espoused the cause of Margaret's son Henry Tudor, a great-great-great-grandson of King Edward III, the closest male heir of the Lancastrian claim