Edward of Westminster , Prince of Wales Edward of Westminster ( – ) , also known as Edward of Lancaster , was the only son of King Henry VI of England and Margaret of Anjou . He was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury , making him the only heir apparent to the English throne ever to die in battle . Early life . Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster , London , the only son of King Henry VI of England and his wife , Margaret of Anjou . At the time , there was strife between Henry ' s supporters , and Richard Plantagenet , 3rd Duke of York , who had a claim to the throne and challenged the authority of Henry ' s officers of state . Henry was suffering from mental illness , and there were widespread rumors that the prince was the result of an affair between his mother and one of her loyal supporters . Edmund Beaufort , 1st Duke of Somerset , and James Butler , Earl of Wiltshire , were both suspected of fathering Prince Edward , however , there is no firm evidence to support the rumors , and Henry himself never doubted the boy ' s legitimacy and publicly acknowledged paternity . Edward was invested as Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle in 1454 . War over the English throne . In 1460 , King Henry was captured by the supporters of the Duke of York at the Battle of Northampton and taken to London . The Duke of York was dissuaded from claiming the throne immediately but he induced Parliament to pass the Act of Accord , by which Henry was allowed to reign but Edward was disinherited , as York or his heirs would become king on Henry ' s death . Queen Margaret and Edward had meanwhile fled through Cheshire . By Margaret ' s later account , she induced outlaws and pillagers to aid her by pledging them to recognise the seven - year - old Edward as rightful heir to the crown . They subsequently reached safety in Wales and journeyed to Scotland , where Margaret raised support , while the Duke of York ' s enemies gathered in the north of England . After York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield , the large army which Margaret had gathered advanced south . They defeated the army of Richard Neville , 16th Earl of Warwick , one of York ' s most prominent supporters , at the Second Battle of St Albans . Warwick brought the captive King Henry in the train of his army , and he was found abandoned on the battlefield . Two of Warwick ' s knights , William Bonville , 1st Baron Bonville , and Sir Thomas Kyriell , who had agreed to remain with Henry and see that he came to no harm , were captured . The day after the battle , Margaret asked Edward what death the two knights should suffer . Edward readily replied that their heads should be cut off . Exile in France . Margaret hesitated to advance on London with her unruly army , and subsequently retreated . They were routed at the Battle of Towton a few weeks later . Margaret and Edward fled once again , to Scotland . For the next three years , Margaret inspired several revolts in the northernmost counties of England , but was eventually forced to sail to France , where she and Edward maintained a court in exile . ( Henry had once again been captured and was a prisoner in the Tower of London . ) In 1467 the ambassador of the Duchy of Milan to the court of France wrote that Edward " already talks of nothing but cutting off heads or making war , as if he had everything in his hands or was the god of battle or the peaceful occupant of that throne . " After several years in exile , Margaret took the best opportunity that presented itself and allied herself with the renegade Earl of Warwick . King Louis XI of France wanted to start a war with Burgundy , allies of the Yorkist King Edward IV . He believed if he allied himself to restoring Lancastrian rule they would help him conquer Burgundy . As a compliment to his new allies Louis made young Edward godfather to his son Charles . Prince Edward was married to Anne Neville , Warwick ' s younger daughter , in December 1470 , though there is some doubt as to whether the marriage was ever solemnised . Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury . Warwick returned to England and defeated Edward IV . In this enterprise , he was assisted by Edward ' s IV younger brother , the Duke of Clarence , who had joined Warwick in his rebellions and his exile . Edward IV , his brother Richard , Duke of Gloucester , and Lord Hastings fled into exile to Burgundy , while Warwick restored Henry VI to the throne . Margaret and her court lingered behind in France . Shortly after her arrival in England with her son and her daughter - in - law , early in 1471 , they heard of the Battle of Barnet . Shortly before the battle , Clarence had reconciled with Edward IV , was forgiven his past treason and now fought with his brothers and defeated and killed Warwick . With little real hope of success , the inexperienced prince and his mother led the remnant of their forces at the Battle of Tewkesbury , where Edward was killed . Edward ' s body is buried at Tewkesbury Abbey . His widow , Anne Neville , married the Duke of Gloucester , to whom she had been betrothed before and who eventually succeeded as King Richard III in 1483 . According to some accounts , shortly after the rout of the Lancastrians at Tewkesbury , a small contingent of men under the Duke of Clarence found the grieving prince near a grove where he was immediately beheaded on a makeshift block , despite his pleas . Paul Murray Kendall , a biographer of Richard III , accepts this version of events . Another version of what happened was given by three Tudor sources : " The Grand Chronicle of London " , Polydore Vergil and Edward Hall . It was later dramatized by William Shakespeare in " Henry VI , Part 3 " , Act V , scene v . The story they give is that Edward survived the battle and was taken captive . He was taken before the victorious Edward IV who was with George , Duke of Clarence ; Richard , Duke of Gloucester ; and William , Lord Hastings . The king received the prince graciously , and asked him why he had taken up arms against him . The prince replied defiantly , " I came to recover my father ' s heritage . " The king then struck the prince across his face with his gauntlet hand and those with the king proceeded to kill the prince with their swords .