The New Murrey and Blue blog

The TV series Go Visit Castles has now dealt with Richard III’s castle at Middleham, see here.

The resultant video is interesting and shows the castle in detail, including an intriguing reconstruction of the castle kitchens (see above). The tone isn’t for the highly knowledgeable, more to introduce “beginners” to the workings of a castle, which is fair enough, but all is ruined (not just the castle) at the end when the presenters repeat the usual rubbish about Richard imprisoning his nephews and stealing the throne. The boys, of course, never left the castle again alive.

Oh? How do these people know that? (Apart from it being in the script!) Have they some new proof? No, they don’t, so at the very least it should have been pointed out that this version of events is what some believe happened but nothing is known for certain. No mention at all of there being other candidates (not least Henry Tudor and his mother) for the seeming disappearance of the boys. It would have been better all around if the script had stuck to Middleham and not wandered off course into maligning Richard. His reputation at Middleham and in Yorkshire in general was such that he was grieved for as a great lord and a terrible loss. He was not a child-murderer.

Otherwise, the video is tolerably worth watching.