Dear Buckingham,
What are your thoughts on Richard's order to kill the princes? Were you only against it because Richard refused to grant you the Earldom of Hereford? Or were you truly disturbed by the idea of killing children?
NelsonHojax, my apologies in that this message has taken so long to reach you.
And now to your query. I must admit, His Majesty's refusal to grant me the earldom as he had promised influenced my decision greatly, but it was not only this which led me to attempt to defect to Richmond's side. Richard and I had killed before; Rivers, Grey, Vaughan, Hastings⦠But the princes, Edward and Richard, they were just children. Richard of Gloucester was on the throne; what purpose would it serve to kill them? They weren't a threat to his power as minors hidden away in the Tower, surely? True, they would grow to be men one day. They could attempt to usurp his ill gained throne then, if they saw fit. But not as children. Was I disturbed by the idea, you ask? I can't deny that I was, loath as I am to admit it.
I pray that is sufficient an answer enough to satisfy you.
-Henry Stafford, Second Duke of Buckingham
