A Rose for the Crown

A Rose for the Crown takes place during England's Wars of the Roses, a civil war during the late fifteenth century between the royal houses of York and Lancaster, the white and the red rose respectively.

The protagonist is fictional Kate Haute, poor relation to a well-connected family, the Hautes of Ightham Mote in Kent, cousins to Edward IV's queen, Elizabeth Woodville. Richard Haute takes her in to be companion to his daughter. At thirteen, Kate is married first to a wealthy old merchant, who dies two years later. She is then given permission to marry the boy of her dreams, George Haute, a distant cousin of the Kent Hautes and he takes a happy Kate to his home in Suffolk. Her happiness is short-lived, however, and George is a disappointment. George's patron is Sir John Howard, later Duke of Norfolk, and thus Kate becomes acquainted with his new wife, Margaret, soon to be Kate's closest friend.

Through the Howards, she meets and has a five-year liaison with Richard, duke of Gloucester, later Richard III. During the four years before Richard's marriage to Lady Anne Neville, Kate and Richard have three illegitimate children.

Richard's story becomes the focus of the book once he is king, with Kate helping him through several crises and her love and loyalty buoying him at these times. She is on Bow Bridge in Leicester when he rides out with his army to Bosworth Field, and she keeps vigil over his body upon its return to that city following the house of York's defeat at the hands of Henry Tudor.

Author's Note
A plethora of books, essays and articles has been published about Richard III through the centuries. It is unfortunate that Shakespeare's unflattering depiction of the last Plantagenet king has become the de facto characterization of Richard in our history books. Shakespeare wrote for the Tudor queen, Elizabeth I, granddaughter of the very man who "stole" Richard's crown.

We know Richard had a mistress -- perhaps more than one -- because two of his bastard children are mentioned in records from the period. No one has discovered her identity, which has allowed me to invent her. This is her story -- as plausible as a thorough research into the period and lives of the non-fictional characters allowed .

Richard III's two known bastards, John of Gloucester and Katherine Plantagenet -- albeit illegitimate, were acknowledged and adopted into the royal household. Just before the Battle of Bosworth, however, King Richard is said to have acknowledged the existence of a third bastard, and, although never proven, many believe this to be one Richard of Eastwell.

I am unconvinced that Richard III was the villain history has made him out to be, and I hope I have created a more appropriate version of him -- neither better nor worse than other powerful men of the period.