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A bit of a very rough TL idea I'd never write, but thought might be a promising springboard for discussion.

One of the most interesting little titbits I read in The Hollow Crown by Dan Jones is that in 1482, there was a serious proposal by the regime of Edward IV to return the last Lancastrian claimant, Henry Tudor, to England. Henry would be made, at a stroke, England's greatest landowner, and presumably would have been married into the royal family to keep him loyal, given Edward's many daughters. Of course, the troubles of OTL 1483 put a stop to this.

So, I wondered to myself, what if Edward IV had lived a few more years? And I came up with this scenario that I thought was quite fun...

In this TL, Edward IV eventually expires in 1488, with the throne passing relatively smoothly to his seventeen year old heir, Edward V. Edward proves to be a military tyro and launches two heroic and successful (well, in the short term) campaigns against the French. He is married in 1491, and a daughter, Elizabeth, is born the following year. In 1493, the Scots invade England with French backing and the dashing young King Edward marches north to confront them. He is mortally wounded in battle, however, and dies in York. His pregnant wife is shocked into miscarrying her second child, a son, and the apparent heir to the throne is a girl a little short of one year old.

There are now numerous potential Regents. Most notably, these include:

- The deceased king's uncle, Richard of Gloucester, still only forty one and a vigorous and wily commander with two sons of his own, the elder of whom is the legendary Edward of Middleham, nineteen years old and already a hero of the French wars.
- The king's younger brother, Richard of Shrewsbury, a relatively quiet and pious young man, but well liked by the commons and the Church, and as yet unmarried.
- The king's brother-in-law, Henry Tudor of Richmond, married to Princess Cecily of York and with three young children. The last claimant to the House of Lancaster and perhaps the best-connected and richest landowner in England.

So... anyone any thoughts on how this could play out?
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