by Lou Ann Keiser
April, 2015
Queen Elizabeth read, “Madam, I am writing on behalf of the people of the Commonwealth. I am a Canadian citizen and a forensic scientist. My husband and I traveled to London last year, and ever since I have been researching the young princes Edward and Richard who disappeared at the Tower of London in 1483. I understand that two young person’s bones were found under a staircase in the White Tower in 1674. They were assumed to be those of the young princes and buried in Westminster Abbey. I feel that it is important for historical reasons to find out once and for all if those bones were truly the princes. With my expertise, I could find out how the young people died and if they were the missing princes. If not, I might be able to find out whose bones they are. I strongly believe that now is the time to solve this mystery. We owe a debt to history. I am offering my services and the services of my team. Please consider granting us the needed authority and permissions for examining the bones. I would also like to be present at the exhumation, if I may. I await your answer. I have the honour to be, Madam, Your Majesty’s humble and obedient servant, Susan Vogt, PhD. MForSc.”
"Another petition, Madam?"
The queen ignored her secretary for a moment. Holding the sheet of white stationery in her hand, she thought back to the remains of Richard III found under a parking lot, the subsequent examination and DNA testing, and his recent reburial with royal honors.
"Yes, Christopher. A Dr. Vogt wishes to exhume the bones of the supposed princes Edward V and Richard from Westminster Abbey. She's asking permission. I don't know, but … I think I owe it to the children … to find out once and for all. Write her back, please."
"Yes, Madam."
***
Three months later
Dr. Susan Vogt walked into the sterile laboratory and peered into two ancient marble box-like urns, recently opened for the first time since 1647. "It looks like skulls and bones are intact. Good." A thrill ran up her spine. This was the opportunity of a lifetime.
"Dave, you begin with this box, and Kate, you start with the other. Lay each body out in order, the best you can. Let's see what we've got."
In about a half hour, Susan examined the skeletons. "Hmm … a few small bones are missing on this one. A missing rib on this younger one. Wow, they're tiny. Still … in those days men weren't very tall. Dave?"
"Twelve and nine years old? Not sure, but maybe. They seem small to me. Let's check out the bones for cause of death before doing DNA testing.”
"Of course, but we can send samples of both off right away. It will be four days until we get the results."
"Dave, I want every bone photographed and x-rayed."
"Kate, give me a chemical analysis on random bones from both skeletons. Do carbon-14 as well. We want to know if they're really from the late 1400’s. If they're not, then these bones aren't who we think they are."
"Dave, any evidence of murder?" Susan had done her homework. A criminal named James Tyrell confessed under torture to killing the princes. Was he telling the truth?
"I need more time, Susan." I'm still not sure what killed them. No obvious broken bones or crushed ones, but some are missing, and I don't want to assume anything."
"Some say Richard III killed them so he could usurp the throne. Others said he was a kind man. All we know is that the princes disappeared—and these could be them." Susan spoke those last words with a hushed voice. She felt the urgency. She had to know. She had to let the world know. Susan could hardly breathe.
Dave shouted, "Look at this! There's a mark on the fourth rib as if it were cut by a sharp object. It's definitely notched."
Kate was with the younger skeleton. "Oh man, that same rib is missing on this one!"
Susan was getting more excited all the time. The damaged rib and the missing one…. The only thing left was to link the mitochondrial DNA to Elizabeth Woodville’s lineage, or the bones were not the princes at all. Susan was thankful they’d been able to access Henry VIII’s sample.
Four eternal days later, Susan's team gathered in the lab, the skeletons all laid out before them. This was the moment they’d been waiting for. The DNA results were in.
Kate cleared her throat and read the report aloud, “According to the DNA comparison between the bone scrapings of the skeletons we have before us and the sample from Henry VIII, grandson of Elizabeth Woodville, the tests are … negative. They cannot be the missing princes.”
Dr. Susan Vogt collapsed.
***
In her office that afternoon after reading the results faxed to her, Queen Elizabeth II turned to her husband and asked, “Then, whose bones were they?”
