Cecily of York

Cecily of York (20 March 1469 – 24 August 1507) was the third daughter of Edward IV of England and his queen, Elizabeth Woodville

After her father died, her uncle, Richard III of England, took the throne. Richard declared Cecily and her siblings illegitimate. That meant they were not legally considered royal children anymore. Fearing for their safety, their mother, Elizabeth Woodville, hid them in Westminster Abbey for about a year. Richard III later promised not to harm them, and Cecily and her sisters returned to court. There were rumors that Richard wanted to marry one of his nieces, possibly Cecily or her sister Elizabeth. However, before he died, Richard arranged for Cecily to marry Ralph Scrope, a man of lower status.

After Richard III died in battle, Henry Tudor became king. Cecily’s marriage was annulled. In 1488, she married John Welles, 1st Viscount Welles, a brother of the king's mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort. Cecily had two daughters with John. When John died in 1499, Cecily later married a man named Sir Thomas Kyme without the king’s permission. She had two more children with him, but her marriage and children were not officially recognized, and she was banished from court. Despite this, she stayed on good terms with Margaret Beaufort, who helped pay for her funeral in 1507.

References

Category:English royalty
Category:Princes and princesses
Category:House of York
Category:English princesses
Category:1469 births
Category:1507 deaths