When Richard III died at the Battle of Bosworth and the throne was taken by Henry Tudor, the act recognising the children of Edward IV as bastards was repealed, and Cecily's marriage was annulled as not being in the interests of the dynasty.

Although Jacquetta was acquitted, this unpleasant episode, as well as the unmotivated execution of Rivers, showed how far the enemies of Edward IV were ready to go to destroy his wife and her family.

Already in early October, it became known that Edward IV, together with his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, had fled the country, having only a small hope of returning;[14] upon receiving this news, Queen Elizabeth, along with her mother and three sisters[15][16] hurriedly left the Tower on a barge and arrived in search of refuge at Westminster Abbey.

The fugitives were taken under their protection by the abbot of Westminster, Thomas Milling, a kind, hospitable man who did not want to place the queen and children with the criminals who had also sought sanctuary there, and instead gave them his house at the western entrance to the abbey.

In the event that the prince became King of Scotland or if his mother died during her husband's lifetime, Cecily would receive a third of all lands, possessions and taxes assigned to the queen, or their equivalent.

Apparently, the meeting took place, since on 20 June 1475 Edward IV signed a will, according to which his successor would have to pay Scotland the remaining amount of 18,000 marks from the dowry of the princess.

A year later, the engagement between Cecily's older sister Elizabeth and the Dauphin Charles of France was broken off, and James III decided to follow the example of his French patron.

[33] By 1482, Edward IV had helped the Duke of Albany to seize the regency: Alexander renounced his claims to the crown, was forgiven by his brother and received his possessions back.

[39] Edward V was taken to the Tower of London, where he was later joined by his only full brother, the Duke of York; along with the rest of her children, among whom was Cecily, the now Queen Dowager Elizabeth took refuge in Westminster Abbey.

Tudor historian Edward Hall wrote that Richard III "made all the daughters of his brother solemnly arrive at his palace; as if with him new – familiar and fond of entertainment – they were supposed to forget ... the trauma inflicted on them and the tyranny that preceded this".

Many researchers note that the daughters of Edward IV found themselves in an extremely difficult situation, as their legal rights were usurped, and their brothers were allegedly killed.

Cecily witnessed a very unpleasant event for her: the betrothal of her former fiancé, the Scottish Duke of Rothesay, with her cousin Anne de la Pole, daughter of Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk.

[57] With the death in 1484 of Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales, the only remaining legitimate son of Richard III, Anne de la Pole's brother John[d][61] became the heir presumptive to the throne.

After the daughters of Edward IV, recognised as bastards, arrived at court, various rumours began to circulate about their future fate: for example, it was alleged that Richard III was going to marry one of the elder nieces, Elizabeth[e] or Cecily.

[f][74] Although John himself and his family were supporters of the House of Lancaster, he was able to win the favour of Cecily's father at the end of his life and was among the people who guarded the body of the late King Edward IV at night.

During the reign of Richard III, John was in opposition to the King: he participated in the failed Buckingham uprising, fled to Brittany, where Henry Tudor was hiding, and later won the throne with his help.

[66] Regardless of who initiated the marriage, it was beneficial for both parties, as it strengthened the Lancastrian ties with the Yorkists: Cecily, who was the second contender for the throne from the House of York after her elder sister, found herself married to a man close to the king, who would not allow to draw her into political games against Henry VII.

[90] Cecily organised a magnificent funeral for her husband and made some changes to the traditional burial ceremony: the viscount's body was delivered to Westminster by land, and not by river (bells rang along the entire route of the procession), and the coffin was accompanied by people of the highest ranks that etiquette allowed.

She attended the wedding of her eldest nephew Arthur, Prince of Wales and Catherine of Aragon on 14 November 1501; witnesses report that Cecily, who had the honour of carrying the bride's train,[5] was dressed in expensive fabrics, sewn in the latest fashion, and looked more like a marriageable girl than a widow.

According to Mary Anne Everett Green, the princess's grief was so great and prolonged that she could not attend the funeral,[i] and although a mourning wardrobe was sewn for her, Cecily's name did not appear on the lists of mourners.

[101] Some time after her sister's death, Cecily entered into her third and last marriage: her chosen spouse was Sir Thomas Kyme of Friskney, a Lincolnshire squire[102] –according to Mary Anne Everett Green, the English royal family had never known such an unequal union.

[103] The exact date of the marriage is unknown: various sources indicate 1502,[97] the period between the spring of 1502 and the beginning of 1504[81] or a few months after the death of Cecily's sister, Queen Elizabeth of York in 1503,[5] but before the meeting of Parliament in January 1504.

[103] Cecily knew well that Henry VII would be happy with any of her actions that would put the princess under suspicion, and therefore she only said that she wanted to choose a spouse, guided by the principle of "convenience, not profit".

[106] However, Rosemary Horrocks, James Panton and Garland Okerlund point out that the king reacted very harshly to the petition and the fact that Cecily married without his knowledge and consent: he deprived the princess of all the property received under the will of John Welles,[107] and removed her from the court.

[81][97] Horrocks and Okerlund write that, thanks to the intercession of Lady Margaret Beaufort, part of the Welles estate was returned to Cecily for life;[108][109] also, the King's mother allowed the couple to settle in her own property, Collyweston Palace[110] near Stamford.

[113] Cecily's descendants from her third marriage, recorded in the enhanced copy (dated 1602) of the heraldic visitation of Hampshire (1576) made by Smythe, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant at the College of Arms, can be traced for a hundred years later.

Mary Anne Everett Green writes that after her marriage to Thomas Kyme, the princess did not live in luxury and did not receive any help from the king: the only funds associated with Cecily were allocated by Henry VII on 11 December 1506 to John Gysell for a trip to her.

[114] At the same time, in 1506, the King's mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, reserved a room for Cecily at Croydon Mansion and later paid part of the cost of the princess's funeral.

[81][120] A stained glass portrait of Cecily, originally from a larger "royal window" depicting Edward IV's family, is now in Glasgow's Burrell Collection.

A modern copy has been placed in the much restored original group in the north transept of Canterbury Cathedral,[1][119] and was also engraved in the book Acta Historica Reginarum Angliæ.