Edward V was King of England from 9 April to 25 June 1483. He succeeded his father, Edward IV, upon the latter's death. Edward V was never crowned, and his brief reign was dominated by the influence of his uncle and Lord Protector, the Duke of Gloucester, who deposed him to reign as King Richard III; this was confirmed by the Titulus Regius, an Act of Parliament which denounced any further claims through Edward IV's heirs by delegitimising Edward V and all of his siblings. This was later repealed by Henry VII, who wished to legitimise his reign by marrying Elizabeth of York, Edward's eldest sister.
Depiction of Edward as Prince of Wales in the Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, 1477
A late-16th- or early-17th-century imagining of Edward
King Edward V and the Duke of York in the Tower of London by Paul Delaroche. The theme of innocent children awaiting an uncertain fate was a popular one amongst 19th-century painters. Louvre, Paris
Sarcophagal urn of the presumed bones of Edward V and his younger brother, Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, in Westminster Abbey
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British Constitution. The term may also refer to the role of the royal family within the UK's broader political structure. The current monarch is King Charles III, who ascended the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
Ministerial folder with the monarch's emblem
The English Bill of Rights of 1689 curtailed the sovereign's governmental power.
In 1603 James VI and I became the first monarch to rule over England, Scotland, and Ireland together.
