10 British Kings Buried In Unusual Places

9. The "Princes In The Tower", Including King Edward V, Were Buried In The Grounds Of The Tower Of London... Before Being Reinterred At Westminster Abbey

The €œPrinces In The Tower€ - or brothers King Edward V (12 years of age, who reigned between April 9, 1483-June 26, 1483)) and Richard Duke of York (aged nine) - were believed to have been murdered, possibly by King Richard III, in one of the most-notorious royal scandals in British history. Following Edward IV€™s death, Lord Protector Richard, Duke of Gloucester (latterly Richard III), had been appointed to watch over the brothers - but for whatever reason instead he decided to lock them in the Tower of London. Myth and legend still surround exactly what happened to the boys, although it is known they disappeared around 1483 - when the murders are believed to have taken place - and their bodies were not found until workmen dug up a wooden box containing two skeletons in 1674. The bones were buried about 10-feet under the staircase leading to the chapel of the White Tower - although, interestingly, the remains of two children had previously been found on the grounds which equally could have been the young princes. In 1678, King Charles II asked for the bones to be placed in an urn and then interred in the wall of the Henry VII Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey, with a Christopher Wren-designed monument now marking their resting place. That has been where they have remained ever since, except when in 1933 they were briefly removed and examined to determine cause of death, although that remained inconclusive. The mystery of the "Princes In The Tower" remains one of the most tragic episodes in British royal history.