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Plantagenet

The three siblings Richard III, Edward IV and George, Duke of Clarence were meant to be on the same side in the Wars of the Roses. But, says Thomas Penn, their relationship was defined by jealousy, backstabbing and even murder.

Blood brothers: Richard III’s battle with his siblings

Richard III's Yorkist troops fight Lancastrians in the battle of Bosworth, during the Wars of the Roses, 22 August 1485. King Richard was killed by Henry of Richmond, who became Henry VII. Engraving after Philip James de Loutherbourg. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

10 things you need to know about the battle of Bosworth

A painting of the Princes in the Tower

Did Richard III really kill the Princes in the Tower?

A portrait of Richard III. Was the last Yorkist king a usurper? Historian John Ashdown-Hill explains why this is a myth. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Did fear drive Richard III to the throne?

Adrian Tinniswood explores the fascinating history of Britain’s royal households, from the Tudor period until today. Here, Queen Victoria is surrounded by members of the royal family at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. (Photo by Getty Images)

At home with the royals

A portrait of Elizabeth Woodville, queen of Edward IV. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

8 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Woodvilles

The battle of Towton during the War of the Roses, 1461. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

12 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Wars of the Roses

Henry VI of England. (Photo by iStock/Getty Images)

Henry VI may have had a “sex coach” – plus 4 more curious facts about his life

In 1937, Amelia Earhart, one of the world’s most famous aviators, apparently disappeared without a trace during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

From Jack the Ripper to Amelia Earhart: 17 unsolved historical mysteries

King Edward IV, who used the surname Plantagenet. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Q&A When did British kings and queens start using surnames?

As a child king, Henry VI – shown in a c16th-century portrait – learned the lessons of kingship from books. Unfortunately, those books didn't extol the merits of ruthlessness and practising realpolitik. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

How Henry VI’s love of peace cost him the throne – and his life

A memorial tomb to King Æthelstan, the first Saxon king of all England, in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire. (Photo by Geography Photos/UIG via Getty Images)

A brief history of England

"As for the accusation that he killed the princes in the Tower, I think he was framed," says Robert Lindsay of Richard III, shown in a 16th-century portrait. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

My history hero: Robert Lindsay chooses Richard III

Historian Nick Barratt.

Medieval civil war

A 20th-century fresco 'Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Old Temple Gardens' by Henry Payne. It depicts a scene by Shakespeare, showing Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset being challenged by Richard, 3rd Duke of York to choose between the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster. (Photo by Artefact / Alamy Stock Photo)

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about the houses of Lancaster and York