The New Murrey and Blue blog

Fake news. Ah yes. We regard this as a modern curse, but, of course, it goes back through the centuries. Probably ever since the humans in one cave fell out with the humans in another. Lies…erm, fake news…soon circulated. And if there was one King of England about whom there is fake news in abundance, it’s Richard III. If we pay attention to all the fibs and inventions about him I fear Satan might have to hand over the keys of Hell to a new master.

Richard appears to have loved his wife and been faithful to her. At least, if he wasn’t he was very discreet about it. Unlike his eldest brother, Edward IV, he doesn’t seem to have had a string of mistresses. He did have two illegitimate children, conceived before his marriage. His daughter Katherine, became Countess of Pembroke, and his son, John of Gloucester, became Captain of Calais at the age of only thirteen. These are the only two known children to have been born on the wrong side of the blanket.

Yet now, at this site Richard is referred to as having daughters. Really? The reason given is that Richard had scoliosis “….[Which] can be partially inherited. We know that Richard had daughters who could have also had scoliosis but we do not know their fate….”

Now where in the heck does that come from? A picture is painted of Richard siring a number of daughters who are all afflicted by scoliosis. It’s stated as fact, not a rumour. It’s fake news.

On the right side of the blanket Richard and Queen Anne had one child, a son, Edward of Middleham, who died tragically young, much to his parents’ grief. Then Anne died as well. Richard was a heart-broken widower, but because he was a king and needed an heir, he had to marry again. Of course, whispers abound that Richard poisoned Anne because he wanted to marry again. His new bride? His niece, Elizabeth of York (who eventually became the queen of Henry VII).

In fact Richard was negotiating with the Portuguese for two royal marriages for himself and his eldest niece, Elizbeth of York, but fake news was put about that he intended to marry Elizabeth! How incestuous that would have been, and how unthinkable for a man like Richard. Yet he’s accused of seriously considering such a marriage. Even at the time he was forced to deny it in public. Deny what? An unpleasant rumour that had no basis whatsoever in fact. The Portuguese negotiations were still in progress when Richard was murdered at Bosworth.

The only vague hint of Richard having another daughter came from one of my friends: “….There has been a suggestion recently that he had a daughter, Anne Norris, in early 1485 by Francis Lovell’s sister, Frideswide. This is based largely on his giving her a huge annual pension when the baby was born, and as possibly explaining the odd rumour around that time that EoY had given birth….” So, this too is probably fake news. Frideswide has a daughter and Richard helps out financially. Wow! That must mean he was the father! Why? Isn’t it just as likely that he was helping the sister of his good friend Francis Lovell? Why does it have to have a seamy, suggestive gloss? And did the story ever exist? The original source for it isn’t one I’d trust as gospel. But then, which of today’s sources can be trusted? Too many of them have books to sell as any cost. Certainly the truth is thrown overboard if it’s inconvenient.

And don’t even START me on the “murder” of the boys in the Tower! The traditionalists are so keen to accuse Richard that they practically trip over the steaming heap of their own fake news!

PS: the above article also states “….The skeleton had no feet but it is believed that they were damaged during building work in Victorian times….” Mercifully, there is no suggestion that he had cloven hooves instead. But, strangely, the article is actually pro-Richard.