Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales

Edward was allegedly born in December 1473 at Middleham Castle, a stronghold close to York that became Richard and Anne's principal base in northern England.[2] The date of 1473 is, however, not universally accepted; Professor Charles Ross wrote that the date 1473 "lacks authority. In fact, he was probably not born until 1476."[3] The act of Parliament that settled the dispute between George of Clarence and Richard over Anne Beauchamp's inheritance just as if the Countess of Warwick "was naturally dead" was dated May 1474.[4] The doubts cast by Clarence on the validity of Richard and Anne's marriage were addressed by a clause protecting their rights in the event they were divorced (i.e. of their marriage being declared null and void by the Church) and then legally remarried to each other, and also protected Richard's rights while waiting for such a valid second marriage with Anne.[5] There were no provisions, however, for their heirs in case of this said divorce, which seems to confirm Richard and Anne had no children as of 1474. However, such provision was the provence of the ruling king for those of royal blood, so would have been moot.

Edward was mostly kept at Middleham, and was known to be a sickly child.[6]

In 1478, Edward was granted the title of Earl of Salisbury, previously held by the attainted George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence. The title became extinct on his death.[7] His father became King of England on 26 June 1483, deposing his nephew Edward V. Edward did not attend his parents' coronation, likely due to illness.[2] He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester in a splendid ceremony in York Minster on 8 September 1483, following his parents' royal progress across England.[8]

The reasons for his sudden death are unknown. The Croyland Chronicle reads:

However, in a short time after, it was fully seen how vain are the thoughts of a man who desires to establish his interests without the aid of God. For, in the following month of April, on a day not very far distant from the anniversary of king Edward, this only son of his, in whom all the hopes of the royal succession, fortified with so many oaths, were centred, was seized with an illness of but short duration, and died at Middleham Castle, in the year of our Lord, 1484, being the first of the reign of the said king Richard. On hearing the news of this, at Nottingham, where they were then residing, you might have seen his father and mother in a state almost bordering on madness, by reason of their sudden grief.[9]

Edward's sudden death left Richard without a legitimate child and heir.[10] Contemporary historian John Rous recorded that Richard declared his nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick, his heir in his place, but there is no other evidence of this.[11] Similarly, John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln also seemed to have been designated as Richard's new heir, but was never publicly proclaimed as such.[12]

Richard's enemies were inclined to believe that Edward's sudden death was divine retribution for Richard's alleged involvement in the usurpation and subsequent disappearance of the sons of Edward IV, Edward V of England and Richard, Duke of York.

Effigy at Sheriff Hutton Church long believed to represent Edward of Middleham, but now thought to be an earlier work

The location of Edward's burial is unknown. A mutilated white alabaster cenotaph ("empty tomb")[13] in the Church of St Helen and the Holy Cross at Sheriff Hutton, with an effigy of a child, was long believed to represent Edward of Middleham, but is now thought to be an earlier work depicting one of the Neville family.[14]

It is perhaps most probable that Edward, having died in Middleham Castle, was buried in the nearby parish church of Saints Mary and Alkelda in Middleham, where his father had intended to found a college. However, evidence for this suggestion is lacking.

Edward of Middleham appeared in Sharon Penman's The Sunne in Splendour and in Sandra Worth's The Rose of York series. In the latter series, it is implied that Edward was poisoned at the behest of Margaret Beaufort, as part of her efforts to secure the throne for her son, the eventual Henry VII.

Edward of Middleham is a character in Joan Szechtman's Loyalty Binds Me, her second book about Richard III in the 21st century.

Edward of Middleham also appears in Phillipa Gregory's Cousins' War series, and in the TV adaptation of the novels, The White Queen.

• Kendall, Paul Murray (1955). Richard the Third. Allen & Urwin. ISBN 0-04-942048-8.
• Panton, Kenneth J. (2011). Historical Dictionary of the British Monarchy. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-5779-0.