Elizabeth of York

4 x 6 inches, watercolour and gold ink, 2008.


Elizabeth was born in 1466, the first child born to Elizabeth Wydville and King Edward IV (though Elizabeth had two children from a previous marriage). After her father's death in 1483, her younger brother briefly became King Edward V before their uncle Richard imprisoned and murdered him and proclaimed himself Richard the Third. Elizabeth, her mother and other siblings stayed in the Sanctuary of Westminster Abbey, her mother arranging a marriage with the exiled Henry Tudor through his mother Margaret Beaufort. In 1484 Elizabeth left sanctuary and joined the court of Richard. It was rumoured that Richard planned to marry her after the death of his wife Anne but nothing ever came of it. In 1485 Henry Tudor defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth and became King Henry VII. Elizabeth and Henry were married in early 1486. It was a successful marriage and produced eight children, among them the future Henry VIII. Their first son Arthur died aged 16 in 1502. They tried for another child and Katherine was born in 1503 but she died within hours of being born. Elizabeth herself died from infection 9 days later, aged 37.