Anne Neville, Princess of Wales and Queen of England, was born in Warwick Castle. Her father is Richard Neville Earl of Warwick (1428-71), called ‘the Kingmaker’ on account of his far-reaching political power. Former advisor to the King of England Henry VI Lancaster (1421-71), he will defect to the Yorks during the Wars of the Roses, the red rose of the Lancasters and the white rose of the Yorks; and he will help Edward IV of York (1442-83) seize the throne. Her mother is Anne Beauchamp (1426-92), sixteenth Countess of Warwick.

In March 1463 Richard Neville -now advisor and close associate of King Edward IV- is negotiating a truce with France. The agreement is to be sealed with the marriage of Edward to the French king’s sister-in-law. But in September Edward announces that he has already secretly wed Lady Elizabeth Woodville: a widow from a power-hungry minor noble family and loyal to the Lancasters - yet undeniably beautiful. Warwick is furious.

In 1465 at Middleham, Yorkshire, Anne meets Richard of Gloucester (1452-1485), youngest son of Richard Plantagenet Duke of York (1411-60), killed by the Lancasters after his defeat at the Battle of Wakefield. The boy, of frail health, had been sent there by his brother King Edward to strengthen himself in the invigorating climate of the Yorkshire Dales and, under Warwick’s guidance, to learn the knightly arts and manners appropriate to his rank.

During the years spent at Middleham the thirteen-year-old Richard and the little Anne became friends. She is nine and ‘as lovely as morning light, silky, honey-blond hair, violet eyes’: from their first meeting, Richard vows to himself that he will always take care of her. With time their friendship would develop into something more, and their love will last for life.

They are often seen ambling together on the hills and in the woods around the castle, followed by their dogs; her thin, delicate figure beside his, which day by day is becoming sturdier, thanks to the military practice. During one of these walks, they would discover a hidden cavity in the trunk of an oak tree: there they would leave each other notes and little gifts, until the last dramatic message.

Throughout 1466 the tension between Warwick and King Edward intensified – as the latter appoints Elizabeth Woodville’s father, Richard Woodville (1405-69), as his Lord Treasurer, despite him being a supporter of the Lancasters. The rift between the two widened the following year, when Edward signed a treaty with Duke Charles of Burgundy (1433-77) behind Warwick’s back.

In the spring of 1469 the relationship between Warwick and King Edward came to its end: Richard is forced to leave Middleham and Anne. As he bids her farewell, he takes off his ring, bearing a small bright-red ruby, and gives it to her: in uncertain times, should she ever be in danger, she must send it back to him.

Immediately Warwick rebelled against Edward. In the battle of Edgecote Moor, the king is captured. George Clarence (1449-78), Edward’s younger brother, jealous of him and of the Woodvilles, formed an alliance with Warwick and after the battle, without a proper trial, has Richard Woodville and his son John beheaded. Against the king’s orders, in the same year he marries Anne’s sister, Isabel Neville (1451-76).

With Edward prisoner at Middleham, Warwick hopes to govern his kingdom: but against him stand the northern lords and a good portion of the people of the realm. In September he is obliged to release him. But then in March 1470, together with George Clarence and with the assistance of some Lancaster supporters, he launches another revolt against the king. Defeated at the Battle of Losecoat Field, in May 1470, he flees to France with his family. The full moon lighted up the night they embarked, with the fear of being discovered. During the crossing, Isabel gave birth to a baby girl, who sadly died shortly after and was buried at sea.

Upon landing, Warwick goes to pay homage to King Louis XI of France (1423-83): he solicits an army to enter England and depose Edward. “When Edward forced her to flee the country, Margaret of Anjou took refuge in Angers, under the protection of King Louis. Only if I make a pact with her will King Louis give me the men and ships to invade England, join with those loyal to the Lancasters and overthrow Edward. To seal this alliance he demands that Anne marry Margaret’s son, Edward of Lancaster. The betrothal will take place by July, in Angers Cathedral”, he tells his family.

Anne bursts into tears, desperate, and begs to become a nun, to be left to die. But she eventually realizes that she is her father’s only hope to avoid the scaffold. The great Warwick must kneel before the woman who killed his father and eldest brother Edmund at Wakefield, and plead for her forgiveness. Now it is Anne’s turn, the fifteen-year-old Neville, who became a pawn.

At their first meeting in Angers, the handsome Edward, a boy of sixteen with the same scornful expression that his mother reserved for the Yorks, and who is reputed to be depraved and cruel, smiles at her: “My lady, you are as beautiful as a rose in May” he murmurs, immediately charmed. The wedding takes place in December in Amboise Castle.

When Richard learns of the escape to France he hurries to Middleham with an escort. He finds there but few servants, no fires in the hearths, the walls cold. He runs to the secret tree, removes the stones that shield the hiding-place: in the cavity there is a message from Anne. He breaks open the seal, reads: “Richard, they are taking me away. Be assured that I shall love you forever, whatever fate awaits us. God protect you. Anne”.

In 1471 George Clarence lands with Margaret and her son Edward of Lancaster to overthrow his brother Edward IV, but seized with fear, betrays Warwick and joins the Yorks. On 14 April at the Battle of Barnet, Warwick is killed. In the subsequent battle of Tewksbury, Margaret’s son Edward is killed too, apparently by his brother-in-law George, of whom he begged for mercy.

Having returned to London, King Edward entrusts Anne, a widow at fifteen, to her sister Isabel, George’s wife. George keeps her prisoner in the hope of taking possession of her properties. As Richard comes to look for her at his brother’s house in Downegate Street, a desperate Isabel tells him that Anne disappeared the previous day, taken away forcibly by some of Clarence’s men: surely hidden away in some secret place, dragged up to Scotland, perhaps thrown in the sea or in the Thames. Richard swears that he will unleash his men all over the kingdom, village by village, street by street, until he finds her.

Several days had passed, when a boy presents Richard with a ring bearing a small bright-red ruby. He was given the ring by a girl working in an Eastcheap tavern: when she heard him speaking with the Middleham accent, she made him promise to give it to Richard Duke of Gloucester.

He finds Anne in the tavern attic, together with other scullery maids: dressed in rags, pale, as thin as a little bird in winter, her hands all calloused. He wraps his cloak around her, lifts her onto his horse and takes her to the Abbey of St Martin the Great in Aldersgate. There she would be safe and healthy again, and he would visit her every day. And finally in July 1472 the two marry in the royal chapel of St Stephen’s in the palace of Westminster. They then leave for the North - they would live at Middleham. In December 1473 a son is born, Edward of Middleham.

In December 1476 Isabel dies, perhaps in childbirth. Richard and Anne take charge of the children, Margaret (1471-1541) and Edward (1475-99), the latter with mental disabilities. Close to their own son in age, they will grow up with him at Middleham.

Two years later their father, George Clarence, is condemned to death for having tried to take the throne. Locked up in the Tower, he chooses to die by being drowned in a barrel of malmsey, his favourite wine.

It is the year 1483. King Edward IV dies in April. He has appointed Ann’s husband, Richard, Lord Protector of his son Edward V (1470-83). But one August night the boy, together with his younger brother, disappears from the royal apartments in the Tower, where he is lodged awaiting his coronation. Their remains are found shortly after in a trench covered in lime, under a staircase that leads to the White Tower.

Late June, 1483. Parliament declares Edward IV’s sons illegitimate, for he had been betrothed to another woman prior to his marriage to Elizabeth, and proclaim Richard king. Anne is shocked by the accusations that her husband could have killed his nephews in order to take the throne.

April, 1484. Richard is at Nottingham presiding over a court of justice, Anne is with him and persuades him to pass laws which favour the poor and the marginalized. But a messenger wearing the Middleham livery arrives to announce that their son Edward has suddenly passed, perhaps poisoned. Anne would never recover from this and dies in Richard’s arms less than a year later, while he begs her not to leave him. It appears that she has contracted tuberculosis, “the white plague”, taking care of a sick servant. Dying she whispers to him: “Who dies is happier than we, my love, don’t prolong your suffering. You will stay, and must live.”

Anne is buried in Westminster Abbey, on the right of the high altar, near the door which leads to the chapel of King Edward the Confessor (circa 1002-1066).


Translated by Colin Sowden.