Princes in the Tower may have been forewarned of Edward's illness. It is reported that he then went to York Minster to publicly "pledge his loyalty to his new king". The Croyland Chronicle states that, before his death, Edward IV designated his brother Gloucester as Lord Protector. Edward's request may not have mattered, however, since "as the precedent of Henry V showed, the council was not bound to follow the wishes of a dead king". Edward V and Gloucester set out for London from the west and north respectively, meeting at Stony Stratford on 29 April. The following morning, Gloucester arrested Edward's retinue including
Princes in the Tower his nephews would help secure his position or make him more acceptable to his subjects." An initial uprising in September 1483, aimed at deposing Richard and restoring Edward V to the throne, was not stopped by rumours of Edward's murder. Instead, the rebels rallied around Henry Tudor as a potential alternative candidate, who was, as Horrox notes, "an inconceivable choice if Edward V and his brother were thought to be still available." Anthony Cheetham, who considered Richard likely did have the princes murdered, commented that it was "a colossal blunder. Nothing else could have prompted the deflated Woodvilles to hitch