This Day in History: 1485-03-30

On 30th March 1485, Richard III, lord of Sandal, at the Priory of the Knights of St John at Clerkenwell, in the presence of the Lord Mayor, denied any plans for a marriage between himself and his niece, Elizabeth of York. He instructed the mayor to arrest and punish anyone circulating such rumours. Richard’s wife, Anne of Warwick, had died two weeks previously and Elizabeth had been declared illegitimate in 1483 due to Parliament having declared Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville bigamous and invalid.