In 1789, work was carried out to the paving in St George’s Chapel. Workmen had noticed that it had sunk in the north quire aisle, and during repair work, they came upon the entrance to the burial vault of Edward IV. Within the vault, they found a lead coffin, with the remains of a wooden coffin on top – the coffins of Edward IV and his wife, Elizabeth Woodville. They also found another vault nearby which they believed to contain the bodies of George, Duke of Bedford, 3rd son of Edward IV who died aged around 2 in 1479, and Mary, 5th daughter of Edward IV, who died aged 14 in 1482. Both were known to have been buried in Windsor. The workmen did not investigate the vault further but a slab commemorating George and Mary was put in the paving above the vault.
However, in 1810, two further coffins were found under what is now the Albert Memorial Chapel. One of these bore the inscription “serenissimus princeps Georgius filius tercius Christianissimi principis Edvardi iiij” suggesting that the coffin of George was buried here, not in the vault near Edward IV. In fact, when George was buried on 22 March 1479, St George’s Chapel was still under construction, so that although his body was taken to be buried at Windsor, it couldn’t have been interred in the Quire, and was instead laid to rest to the south of the high altar of the old chapel, on the site of the present Albert Memorial Chapel. In the written account of Mary’s funeral, it states that she was “buried by my Lorde George, her brother”. In 1813, both of these coffins were moved to the vault near Edward IV.
So who was buried in the vault the workmen found in 1789? They must have been important to have been buried in the place of honour near Edward IV. Could it have been the bodies of Edward’s other sons, Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, the young Princes in the Tower, whose final resting place remains unknown? Might they have been buried near their father?
There is no evidence to identify the occupants of that vault and the fate of the two Princes is still unknown. In the absence of written records, rumours and theories surrounding the Princes in the Tower continue to abound.
Eleanor Cracknell, Assistant Archivist
Clare Rider, Archivist and Chapter Librarian