Edward IV of England Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later King Richard III of England), were married to Isabel Neville and Anne Neville. Both were daughters of Warwick by Anne Beauchamp and rival heirs to the considerable inheritance of their still-living mother, leading to a dispute between the brothers. In 1478 George was eventually found guilty of plotting against Edward, imprisoned in the Tower of London, and privately executed on 18 February 1478. According to a long-standing tradition, he was "drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine". Edward did not face any further rebellions after his restoration, as the Lancastrian line had virtually been extinguished.
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence Edward was so harsh with his brother is because he had discovered from Bishop Robert Stillington of Bath and Wells, that George had let slip the secret of Edward's pre-contract marriage with Lady Eleanor Talbot. Although legend claims Richard III had brought about his brother's death, the opposite is true—he tried to prevent it. Clarence is a principal character in two of William Shakespeare's history plays: "Henry VI, Part 3" and "The Tragedy of Richard III." Shakespeare portrays Clarence as weak-willed and changeable, his initial defection from Edward IV to Warwick is prompted by outrage at Edward IV's unwise marriage