At  York,  too,  the  King  met  his  son,  Prince  Edward,
who  had  been  sent  with  a  retinue  of  knights  from

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Middleham  Castle,  where  he  was  being  educated  in
the  household  of  its  noble  owner.  There  was  a  grand
ceremony  of  knighting  the  young  Prince,  and  he
was  created  Prince  of  Wales  and  Earl  of  Chester
on  the  same  day.  He  was  but  ten  years  old,  three
years  younger  than  his  hapless  cousin  Ed\vard,  then
imprisoned  in  the  Tower.  Still  another  Edward
was  there,  and  was  knighted  on  the  occasion — this
was  the  eldest  son  of  the  Duke  of  Clarence.  Several
of  the  young  sons  of  the  nobles  present  were  also
knighted.
The  courtly  ceremonies  were  barely  over  when
King  Richard  had  occasion  to  turn  his  mind  to
sterner  matters.  Although  it  seemed  that  the
strongest  party  of  nobles  \vas  on  his  side  and  desired
him  to  hold  the  throne,  there  were  plenty  of  dis-
affected people  and  malcontents.  Among  these
were  some  who  had  openly  espoused  Richard's  cause,
and  chief  of  such  was  the  powerful  Duke  of  Bucking-
ham. To  him  came,  openly  or  secretly,  all  who
desired  to  upset  the  newly-established  order  of
things.  The  ex-Queen  Elizabeth,  from  her  sanctuary
in  the  Abbey  precincts  of  Westminster,  had  many
sympathizers,  and  was  prepared  to  plot  with  any
party  that  would  seek  to  remove  Richard.
