
Cecily of York was the third daughter of the first Yorkist king, Edward IV, and his consort Elizabeth Wydeville. She was born on 20 March 1469 at Westminster Palace in London. At the age of five, on 26 October 1474, the princess was betrothed to James, son of James III of Scotland, as a means of achieving an alliance between the traditionally warring kingdoms of England and Scotland. This betrothal ultimately came to nothing when Anglo-Scottish relations worsened to the extent that Edward IV prepared for an invasion of the neighbouring realm. Three years later, when Cecily was fourteen years of age, Edward died at Westminster. Cecily’s brother Edward was subsequently proclaimed king, but their uncle Richard of Gloucester seized the throne, and both Edward and their younger brother Richard were taken to the Tower of London. What became of the two ‘Princes in the Tower’ has never been revealed.
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