Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster, with his father's hold on the throne already vulnerable. Henry VI suffered from mental health issues which often impacted his ability to rule or even function in daily life. This left room for rival members of the royal family, primarily the York faction, who felt they had more of a right to the throne and the ability to take it. Propaganda, fake news and mud-slinger were just as prevalent then as they are now and a common smear thrown in Edward's face and that of his mother was that the boy wasn't Henry VI's son. Popular opinion accused Margaret of several illicit relationships outside of marriage which, if proven, would have resulted in her downfall and the loss of the succession for Edward. Henry, though, seems to have believed the boy was his. In 1454, Edward was invested at Windsor as Prince of Wales. The public investiture served as a message to rival factions, and to other countries, that Edward was the true son of his father and legitimate successor.
In 1460, when Edward was 7, Henry was captured at the Battle of Northampton, and forced to agree to an Act of Accord whereby his own son Edward was disinherited, and Richard, Duke of York and his sons were acknowledged as Henry's rightful successors. Margaret fled with Edward to Cheshire, later making it to Wales and thence to Scotland, where the King of Scots declared his support for Edward's claim. York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460, and Margaret quickly led her army toward London. Her forces defeated an army led by the Kingmaker Earl of Warwick, who had brought Henry with him. Henry was abandoned on the battlefield as Warwick fled defeat. With him were two knights who had sworn to keep Henry from harm. Margaret asked her 7-year-old what should happen to the knights and Edward replied that their heads should be cut off. This story has been used repeatedly to suggest that Edward was already at the age a cruel child. However, like any other child, he would've wanted to give the "correct" answer and, in that day and age, beheading was the right answer. A lion's cub was in training.
Margaret's forces were routed at the Battle of Towton. Henry was captured, leaving Margaret and Edward to flee back to Scotland. After several years of trying to inspire risings from their base in the north, Margaret and her son had no choice but to flee to France. In 1467, a Milanese ambassador wrote of Prince Edward that he talked of nothing but war and cutting off heads. Was Prince Edward a Joffrey Baratheon in the making, or a young man spoiling for his first fight. The answer to that question depends on whose side of the Wars of the Roses one is on. Meanwhile, Warwick had switched allegiance from Edward IV to Henry VI and made an alliance with Margaret. He agreed that his daughter, Anne Neville, should be married to Edward, which happened in 1470. The union was childless and might not have been consummated. In 1470, Warwick led an army back to England and deposed Edward IV with the help of Edward IV's brother, the Duke of Clarence. He returned Henry VI to the throne. Margaret and Edward rejoined Henry in England in 1471.
On April 14, 1471, Margaret and Edward landed in England as Warwick and Edward IV advanced on each other at the Battle of Barnet. Warwick was killed and the Lancastrian force routed. On May 4, 1471, Edward got his first taste of battle and it was his last. He was either killed or captured at the Battle of Tewkesbury, fighting for his father's crown and his own. Sources differ as to what happened next. Contemporaneous accounts indicate that Edward died in battle. Other accounts written later indicate that men under the command of the Duke of Clarence found Edward and immediately beheaded him. Other sources stated that he was brought before Edward IV, who asked the Prince if he'd taken up arms against him. The Prince replied that, "I came to recover my father's heritage." Incensed, Edward IV smacked the young man across the face with his gauntlet, then Clarence and Gloucester killed him. The second version is the one immortalized by Shakespeare in Henry VI, Part 3. Prince Edward was buried at Tewkesbury Abbey. His widow, Anne Neville, later married Richard of Gloucester.
Prince Edward's epitaph read:
"Here lies Edward, Prince of Wales, cruelly slain whilst but a youth, Anno Domini 1471 May fourth. Alas, the savagery of men. Thou art the sole light of thy mother and the last hope of thy race."
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