Plans are made to bring one of the dead king’s two young sons, the Prince of Wales, to London for the coronation as the new monarch.
When Lord Rivers, Lord Grey and Sir Thomas Vaughan are sent to Pomfret as prisoners, Queen and her younger boy flee London, fearing Richard’s plans to put them out of the away.
The young Prince of Wales finally arrives and meets with his uncle Richard and Buckingham. Richard tells the young prince that he and his brother will go to the Tower of London until the ceremony takes place. But the young Prince of Wales says that he does not like the Tower. He shows himself to be wise beyond his years. Richard does not like this and he says aside: “So wise so young, they say, do never live long.” (page 117) The Prince’s younger brother arrives and so they are sent to the Tower of London. Richard sends Catesby to Lord Hastings to find out if he would be willing to support Richard becoming king. Unfortunately Hastings refuses to join Richard’s side, supporting the Prince of Wales. So Richard takes his chance when Hastings is defeating Queen’s honour, calls Hastings a traitor and commands that Hastings’s head will be cut off. Richard is told by Buckingham that the Mayor of London has been persuaded to speak to the people on behalf of making him King of England, bypassing the illegitimate Prince of Wales. But the citizens refused to join in on the cry “God save Richard, England’s royal King”. Richard must meet the Mayor of London and citizens and pretend that he is an unwilling candidate for the throne. So at first he shows an unwillingness to become king but at the end he announces that he will take the crown for England’s sake, naming tomorrow as his coronation day. Anne, who has became Richard’s wife, realizes that Richard is a villain, but she must be crowned as his new queen. Queen and the Duchess of York make plans for escape. At the royal palace, King Richard III speaks with Buckingham and tells him that he wants the two princes dead. Buckingham, however, does not look very happy about it. Richard calls a man called Tyrell, to murder the princes. He also orders to start a rumour that his wife, Lady Anne, is deathly ill: in fact, he plans to do away with her as well and then marry the daughter of Queen Elizabeth: “I must be married to my brother’s daughter, or else my kingdom stands on brittle glass. Murder her brothers, and then marry her...” (page 154)
Richard wants to kill the Earl of Richmond, who is a suitor to the daughter of Queen Elizabeth. News then comes that Richmond is assembling a force to depose Richard and that he has been joined by Buckingham. Fearing that Lord Stanley will go over to the other side, Richard orders Stanley’s son to be taken into custody. More messages arrive from the front: Richmond’s invasion force has been scattered by a storm and Buckingham has been captured.