Royal: Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, 1439-1476

Little would Richard III have guessed that, more than 500 years after his death, he would have his big sister to thank for rescuing him from oblivion and giving him the King's burial that he deserved.  Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, 1439-1476 was the eldest of the many children born to Richard, 3rd Duke of York and his formidable wife, Cecily Neville.  Richard, born in 1452, was the baby of the family.  Their siblings including two kings, Edward IV and Richard III, a duke, George of Clarence, an earl, Edmund of Rutland, who died in battle while still a teenager, Margaret, Duchess Consort of Burgundy, and another Elizabeth of York, aunt of the famous Queen of that name.

Anne was born at Fotheringhay Castle, now famous as the site of the execution of a Plantagenet descendant, Mary of Scotland.  The castle no longer exists today.  At around 8 years old, Anne was married to Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter.  The marriage lasted long enough for Anne to grow into the duties of a wife and bear her husband at least one daughter, also named Anne.  Then, Exeter did the unthinkable and sided with the Lancastrians against his wife's own Yorkist family.  No Plantagenet ever put up with disloyalty.  After Edward IV was acclaimed King in 1461, he attainted Exeter or confiscated his estates, and gave them to Anne, with remainder to their daughter.  Exeter remained steadfast in his loyalty to Henry VI and the Lancastrian cause.  He and Anne separated in 1472.  Meanwhile, she had drama with other men in her life.  Her brother George had also jumped the family ship, throwing in his lot with Henry VI in 1471.  Anne went directly to Clarence and persuaded him to return to family loyalty.  Her intervention tipped the balance against Henry's forces and allowed Edward to reclaim his throne.

Anne married again in 1474 to Thomas St. Leger.  He remained loyal to Edward but, after Richard took the throne in 1483, participated in a rebellion led by the Duke of Buckingham.  St. Leger was captured and executed, but Anne was confirmed in possession of her late first husband Exeter's property.  She died in 1476 while giving birth to another little girl, also called Anne.  Little Anne would grow up and marry into the Manners family and it was her line of descent that confirmed that a skeleton in a parking lot at Leicester was indeed long lost Uncle Richard III.