House of York Warwick himself changed sides, and supported Margaret of Anjou and the king's jealous brother George, Duke of Clarence, in briefly restoring Henry in 1470-71. However, Edward regained his throne, and the House of Lancaster was wiped out with the death of Henry VI himself, in the Tower of London in 1471. In 1478, the continued trouble caused by Clarence led to his execution in the Tower of London; popularly he is thought to have been drowned in a butt of malmsey wine. On Edward's death in 1483, the crown passed to his twelve-year-old son Edward. Edward IV's younger brother Richard,
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