Wars of the Roses Thomas Bourchier, the Archbishop of Canterbury, then persuaded Elizabeth Woodville to allow her younger son, the 9-year-old Richard, Duke of York, to join Edward in the Tower. Having secured the boys, Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells then alleged that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville had been illegal and that the two boys were therefore illegitimate. Richard then claimed the crown as King Richard III. The two imprisoned boys, known as the "Princes in the Tower", disappeared and are assumed to have been murdered. There was never a trial or judicial inquest on the matter. Perkin Warbeck claimed
Princes in the Tower without Richard's knowledge and overlook the fact that Richard was responsible for the safekeeping of his nephews". The Beaufort theory has more recently been supported by Philippa Gregory and is explored in her "Cousins' War" novels, as well as her BBC documentary series "The Real White Queen and her Rivals", but is not supported by any evidence other than a speculative one of possible motive. Historian David Baldwin suggests that Henry VII's reticence on the subject may have been due to the fact that at least one of the princes was still alive; he considers that the likelier candidate for