The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower by John Everett Millais (Interpretation and Analysis)

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The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower
Source: Wikimedia Commons
When King Edward IV of England died in 1483, his two young sons found themselves in a difficult position. Although Edward IV’s oldest son should have become Edward V, the late king’s brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, imprisoned his two nephews in the Tower of London and declared himself King Richard III. What happened next is up for debate; however, young King Edward V and his brother Prince Richard never left the Tower again. It is assumed that the boys, aged twelve and nine, were either murdered for political reasons or fell ill and died. Shakespeare memorialized the story of the children in his famous play Richard III.

The story of the princes in the Tower is one of the most famous and tragic mysteries in the history of England. To this day, historians speculate about the fate of the two young boys and the identity of their (assumed) murderer. In the seventeenth century, two child-sized skeletons were found buried under a staircase in the Tower of London. At the time, it was widely assumed that the skeletons belonged to the two princes. Modern historians, however, have cast doubt on this assumption, so the mystery continues.

The Victorians were no less fascinated by the story of the two princes. So, it is hardly surprising that John Everett Millais decided to portray the children in his 1878 painting The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower. Millais’ oeuvre is full of real or imagined scenes of historical drama, making the princes a natural subject for the painter.

Millais decided to paint the boys in a dark, gloomy space with a shadowy staircase in the background. The steps are a reference to the staircase where the princes’ bodies were supposedly discovered. For verismilitude, Millais apparently sent his son John Guille Millais searching for a dreary tower that could stand in for The Bloody Tower—the site of the princes’ captivity—in the background of this painting.

The boys, dressed in black, stand at the bottom of the steps. Their pale faces and golden hair are the only bright spots in the dark and shadowy painting. The two children cling to each other as they stare at their gloomy surroundings. Their expressions are apprehensive and fearful, inviting the sympathy of the viewer. A feeling of dread hangs over the children. It is clear to both the boys and the viewers that something horrible is about to happen. An additional shadow on the stairs may represent the boys’ killer, descending the steps to carry out the tragic murder.

In The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower, Millais had the opportunity to explore the vulnerability of young life. While children are often associated with the future and with hope in modern times, high childhood mortality rates in Victorian England meant that children often represented the fragility and transience of life. Although the princes in the tower were murdered, contemporary audiences would have viewed The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower as a reminder of the dangers that all children faced.

Millais also explored this theme in his famous and popular painting Bubbles. This piece depicts a young boy looking up at a bubble. The painting makes use of traditional vanitas imagery to highlight the transience and delicacy of life. In Bubbles, the child’s life is as fleeting and beautiful as the eponymous bubble. Although times have changed, the helpless vulnerability of the children in these paintings remains heart-wrenching to viewers in any age.

Bubbles
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Like Bubbles, Millais’ vision of the princes in the tower was immensely popular with Victorian audiences. Their angelic faces appealed to Victorian ideas about childhood, and the painting became so famous it even inspired cartoons in contemporary newspapers. Today, the painting has become the definitive image of the two princes. If you look for an image of the two little boys, you’re likely to stumble upon The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower.

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