Anne Neville – The Dramatical Story Of The White Queen

David Tee – AncientPages.com – History is history. By that, it means that history has a way of hiding the truth and letting myth and legends ascend to prominence. Very little credible information about Anne Neville survive. What does survive are a lot of tall tales, myths, and legends about her life.

It is difficult to get to the truth and see if her life was one tragic event after another or if she let her own aspirations maneuver her into difficult situations.

Anne Neville’s Early Life

It is difficult to say how sad her life really was. She was born into a wealthy and politically powerful family. Her father was known as the Kingmaker, which gives you an idea of her status in life.

Left: Warwick Castle – Credit: Public Domain – Right: Stained glass depiction of Anne Neville in Cardiff Castle. Credit: Public Domain

Ann Neville’s life was not borne from poverty.  She was born on June 11, 1456, in Warwick castle. Her formative years were spent with her older sister and Richard of Gloucester, the younger brother of Edward IV.

From her position she could watch her father determine who would be crowned the next king. This privilege though did not spare her any drama or her share of tragedy.

The need for political alliances tends to put personal or family rivalries to the background. The importance of maintaining political power made strange bedfellows as was the case for Ann. At the tender age of fourteen she married a former enemy.

Some say that this was done in part because of her own personal ambitions for power. It is hard to say as the surviving records do not show her ambitions. She may have wanted personal power but her experience with her mother-in-law may have helped change her mind.

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