Princes in the Tower "the murther of his nephews towards the world", indicating that the boys did indeed meet their end during Richard's days. It is also unlikely that the princes would have been kept alive in secret by Richard for 2 years after their last sighting while rumours of his responsibility for their murder circulated. Some writers have also accused John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk; Margaret Beaufort, Henry VII's mother; and Jane Shore (Edward IV's mistress). Pollard writes of these theories: "None deserve serious consideration. The problem with all these accusations is that they beg the question of access to the Tower
Princes in the Tower was a reference to speeches made in Parliament condemning the murder of the princes, which suggested that Richard's guilt had become common knowledge, or at least common wisdom. The plausibility of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, Richard's right-hand man, as a suspect depends on the princes having already been dead by the time Stafford was executed in November 1483. It has been suggested that Buckingham had several potential motives. As a descendant of Edward III, through John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester on his father's side, as well as through