Elizabeth Woodville

Elizabeth Woodville was, as the wife of King Edward IV, the Queen of England from 1471 to 1483 and therefore a major player in the Wars of the Roses.

Biography
Elizabeth and Edward had three children together, Elizabeth of York and two who later became collectively known as the Princes in the Tower. According to one account, they were not boys but girls named Susan and Judith. Edward knew he had to keep his male line going for the stability of crown and country and so he lied to the world about the identities of his second and third children in order to "stop the jitters going through the kingdom". (AUDIO: The Kingmaker) According to another account, there had been no such deception; Edward's final two children really were sons called Edward and Richard, (PROSE: Sometime Never...) as history recorded. (PROSE: Sometime Never..., AUDIO: The Kingmaker, The Battle of the Tower)

After Edward's brother George, Duke of Clarence led a rebellion against the throne, he was sentenced to death in 1478. However, Edward deliberately left the execution up to their other brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who smuggled him out and allowed him to continue his life as the landlord of the Kingmaker tavern. Richard later claimed George had not been malicious in his actions, simply an idiot, with it being the Woodville family who had forced Edward into delivering the harsh sentence.

Edward died suddenly of a chill on 9 April 1483. The Woodvilles manoeuvred to keep the new King Edward V under their control and Earl Rivers, Elizabeth Woodville's brother, was sent to escort him back to London for his coronation. On the journey, Richard of Gloucester discovered that the King and his brother were really girls. To prevent the truth from coming out, Richard executed Hastings and bribed Elizabeth upon their arrival in London. Elizabeth was as terrified at the prospect of the truth being revealed as Richard was and gladly kept quiet. Richard then declared the "boys" illegitimate by voiding the marriage of their parents and crowned himself Richard III as the next in line.

Around six months into Richard's reign, Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, believed the country to be ripe for uprising and that the only family powerful enough to attempt it was the Woodvilles. He noted, however, that Elizabeth Woodville "d[id]'nt seem to care" and had "given up hope, even giv[ing] up her younger son to join his brother in the arms of her sworn enemy for a piffling pension". Stafford planned to murder the Princes while they were under Richard's care as a catalyst for the Woodvilles to move against him, though this was unsuccessful and he was imprisoned for treason. (AUDIO: The Kingmaker)

Legacy
Elizabeth was featured as a character in William Shakespeare's play Richard III. In one scene, Richard asked her "When have I injured thee, dear Elizabeth? When have I done thee wrong?" before stating "His royal grace cannot be scarce of breathing while you trouble him with lewd complaints". She replied:

Richard responded with "I cannot tell: the world is grown so bad". In a 1597 performance in which Richard was played by Richard Burbage and Elizabeth by another man, it was at this point Burbage interrupted the play to tell the audience to be quiet. They had been heckling Elizabeth, for example saying they wouldn't complain should she want to tell them anything lewd. When they simply laughed, Burbage derailed the performance further by completely breaking character and starting a full-blown fight with the troublemakers. (AUDIO: The Kingmaker)

Behind the scenes
Elizabeth has been played by Susan Engel, Stephanie Bidmead, Rowena Cooper and Keeley Hawes in various films and miniseries.