THey had already been declared illegitimate. Henry restored their illegitimacy when he came to power and married Elizabeth. Henry’s right to rule wouldn’t exist if they were still alive.
Yeah, by Richard.
Henry’s right to rule wouldn’t exist if they were still alive.
The entire Lancastrian faction would have disagreed with that.
It was Richard's right to rule that didn't exist while they were alive. Nobody believed Richard's obviously made up story about Edward having been contracted to marry another girl before Elizabeth, and Richard never produced any proof of it. If there had been any proof don't you think the Lancastrians would have turned it up? As long as those two boys were alive Richard knew they would be the object of plots against his reign. He murdered them. No one else had the opportunity. They were in Richard's custody.
Henry Tudor had no reason to kill the boys before killing Richard and plenty of reason not to. Killing them would only have created ill will among potential allies. Henry didn't consider the Yorkist line to be legitimate in the first place so the boys were no more of a threat to him than Richard. I doubt he gave the two boys a second thought after Richard locked them up in the Tower.