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 or heavily influenced by John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury, in order to incriminate Richard III. Robert Fabyan's "Chronicles of London", compiled around 30 years after the princes' disappearance, names Richard as murderer. Thomas More (a Tudor loyalist who had grown up in the household of John Morton, an avowed foe of Richard III), wrote The "History of King Richard III", c.1513. This identified Sir James Tyrrell as the murderer, acting on Richard's orders. Tyrrell was the loyal servant of Richard III who is said to have confessed to the murder of the princes before his execution for treason in 1502.