(This is an edited version of an article I wrote for Royals Monthly magazine. Edward IV is the English king on whom I based the character Teddy Snow in Notorious, my whodunnit based on the mystery of the Princes in the Tower.)

Edward IV, painted in c1520, about 40 years after his death

Edward Plantagenet ticked all the medieval monarch boxes: charismatic, brilliant, daring and handsome. So why did he disappear into the mists of history?

When it comes to the British monarchy, how well do you know your Edwards? Probably not as well as your Henrys or your Georges. There have been eight King Edwards since the Norman Conquest (1066), and a look at their ‘most famous for’ credentials shows they haven’t been the luckiest rulers. They include Edward II, said to have met an excruciating end courtesy of a red hot poker (thankfully, that murder weapon is probably a myth); Edward V, who vanished at the age of 12; motherless Edward VI, who died from tuberculosis at 15, Edward VII, whose own mother, Queen Victoria, wrote of him ‘I never can, or shall, look at him without a shudder,’ and Edward VIII, who abdicated in 1936 and spent the rest of his life in exile. Maybe it’s just as well that William and Kate chose other kingly names for their heir.

There are two notable exceptions to this lack of magnificence in the line of Edwards:  numbers III and IV. Edward IV (ruled 1461–1483, with a year in exile in the middle), was arguably the most magnificent of all England’s kings. He was quite appalling too, but in the context of the times Edward Plantagenet ticked all the medieval monarch boxes: brilliant at battles, a steady hand in times of peace, good at finance and at dealing with the French; father to many children (plenty of them, unusually, legitimate); charismatic, affable and handsome. Edward was extraordinarily tall for the time, reaching 6 foot 4 inches, which makes him England’s tallest-ever king. (Prince William, at 6 foot 3 inches, will come close.) Edward IV would have been quite a sight in his shiny armour.

But his journey to the throne, and his time on it, were soaked in blood, plus there were two things that Edward couldn’t resist: women and food. Does this tall, broad, charismatic, womanising glutton remind you of anyone? Edward was Henry VIII’s grandfather (the young King Henry considered him a role model), and there are a number of striking similarities in their characters and reigns.

Edward was the second son of Richard, Duke of York, who challenged Henry VI for the throne when that king became unable to rule due to mental illness. Richard’s claim sparked the Wars of the Roses between the houses of York (white rose) and Lancaster (red rose). This brutal civil war raged for about 30 years – the TV series Game of Thrones was inspired by the conflict, and the character Robb Stark (Stark = York; Lannister = Lancaster) is loosely based on Edward IV.

Richard Madden as Robb Stark in Game of Thrones

When his father and elder brother were killed in battle, Edward and his younger siblings George and Richard took up the fight. In 1461, still only 18 years old, Edward was victorious at the Battle of Towton – the bloodiest battle ever fought on British soil, with up to 20,000 deaths – and became King Edward IV.

It was all going so well, until Edward fell in love with someone he shouldn’t have. The young king was being mentored by the powerful Earl of Warwick (‘Warwick the Kingmaker’), who negotiated for Edward to marry a French princess, thereby strengthening England’s power in Europe. But Edward fell for Elizabeth Woodville, a beautiful widow whose husband had died fighting for the Lancastrians. Although her mother had aristocratic blood, Elizabeth, who was five years older than Edward and already had two sons, was viewed as a commoner. Edward was so consumed with passion for Elizabeth, however, that he gave in to her demand: Only if you marry me. (Remind you of anyone?) There were rumours of witchcraft – surely only through casting spells could a commoner bag a king. Looking down their noses, the privy council told Edward she was ‘no wife for a prince such as himself, for she was not the daughter of a duke or earl.’ And kings didn’t marry for love!

The famously beautiful ‘commoner’ Elizabeth Woodville

Although Edward’s marriage was impulsive, by wedding Elizabeth he was perhaps sending a clear message that he was controlling his own agenda. Warwick was incandescent with rage at the secret marriage, and it was the beginning of the end for the relationship that had made Edward King of England. Warwick turned traitor and fought with the Lancastrians against Edward – he lost and died. There’s a lot of switching sides and betrayal (and death) in this tale! Edward (probably) ordered the killing of poor mad Henry VI, who’d been imprisoned in the Tower of London since Edward seized the throne, and had his own brother George, who sided with Warwick, executed. The story goes that Edward let George choose his method of death – he was drowned in a barrel of malmsey (a sweet wine).

Elizabeth and Edward had ten children and lived a life of magnificence in London. Knights, ladies, jousts, dances, banquets – all the pastimes a medieval king enjoyed. Edward may have married for love, but fidelity was not his forte and as the years went by his behaviour degenerated. With England generally peaceful he had time on his hands, and spent a good amount of it whoring and carousing. He became overweight, and would vomit up his meals so he could start all over again. And now, in his thirties, he – gasp! – seemed to prefer peace to war. In 1475, after setting off to invade France (as was traditional for medieval kings), he instead signed a treaty that brought a seven-year truce, a free trade deal, and a large amount of money into the English coffers.

Max Irons and Rebecca Ferguson as Edward and Elizabeth in the TV series The White Queen

Edward died unexpectedly, aged 40, and it’s not clear what caused his death. It was probably a fever, but Edward’s ‘lifestyle choices’ wouldn’t have helped. The twist in the tale is that the Bishop of Bath and Wells came out of the woodwork to claim Edward’s children were illegitimate, because Edward was already married when he wed Elizabeth. This could well be true – Edward had form, after all. His supposed first wife, Eleanor Butler, predeceased Edward, so was unavailable for comment. But Parliament upheld the Bishop’s claim and therefore Edward’s eldest son could not become king. Edward IV’s brother Richard acceeded to the throne instead, becoming Richard III, and Edward’s two young sons disappeared.

Edward’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, married Henry Tudor (House of Lancaster) in 1486, a year after he seized the throne by force from Richard III. Finally, the houses of Lancaster and York were united. Henry VII declared Elizabeth legitimate first, of course, which would have meant her two little brothers, now missing, were also legitimate … but that’s a whodunnit for another time.

Notorious is available in paperback and as an ebook