Lady Eleanor Talbot

Lady Eleanor Talbot (c. 1436 – June 1468), also known by her married name Eleanor Butler (or Boteler),^[1] was an English noblewoman. She was a daughter of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. After the death of Edward IV of England in 1483 it was claimed by Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells, that she was legally married precontract to Edward, which invalidated the king's later marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. The evidence was examined and the Bishop was questioned by the Three Estates (informal sitting of parliament with the same members), who determined that Bishop Stillington's claim was valid. The finding rendered Edward IV's second secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville bigamous, thereby making all seven children illegitimate, including Edward's sons, the so-called Princes in the Tower. As the oldest male blood relative of Edward IV, his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was elected by the Three Estates to the throne as Richard III. Edward's sons remained in the royal apartments in the Tower and subsequently disappeared. Various explanations for their appearance have been put forward.

After the death of Richard at the Battle of Bosworth Field, Henry Tudor, used false propaganda to claim that Titulus Regius was untrue. A few historians have agreed with this view.^[2] Supporters of Richard, however, have argued that the precontract was real and that it legitimised his accession to the throne.^[3]