Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York was born in 1466 at the Palace of Westminster. She was the eldest child of King Edward IV and his wife, Elizabeth Woodville. When she was only 3, she was betrothed to George Neville, who was created the Duke of Bedford especially for the occasion. However, when both George and his father supported the Earl of Warwick’s rebellion against King Edward, the betrothal was called off. Her second betrothal came in 1475, when King Louis XI agreed to terms to marry her to his son, the Dauphin Charles. King Louis later changed his mind, and once again the betrothal fell through. After the death of her father and the removal of her brother Edward V, Elizabeth and her siblings were taken by their mother into sanctuary at Westminster Abbey. A few months later, her parents’ marriage was declared invalid due to her father’s previous betrothal, and she and all her siblings were made illegitimate and excluded from the line of succession. In 1484, Elizabeth Woodville was reconciled wit...