Although the 1484 Act of Parliament Titulus Regius declared the marriage of her parents as invalid, Elizabeth and her sisters returned to court under Richard III, after spending ten months in sanctuary in Westminster Abbey.

However, Henry Tudor knew the importance of Yorkist support for his invasion and promised to marry Elizabeth before he arrived in England.

Her second and only surviving son became king of England as Henry VIII, while her daughters Margaret and Mary became the queens of Scotland and France respectively.

His father, John later supported George's uncle, the Earl of Warwick, in a rebellion against King Edward IV, and the betrothal was called off.

[7] She was named a Lady of the Garter in 1477, at the age of eleven, along with her mother and her paternal aunt Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk.

Gloucester acted quickly to intercept Edward V while the latter was travelling from Ludlow, where he had been living as Prince of Wales, to London to be crowned king.

Edward V was placed in the royal residence of the Tower of London, ostensibly for his protection, while his uncle Anthony Woodville, and half-brother Richard Grey, who had both been escorting him, were arrested and sent to Pontefract Castle.

Gloucester asked Thomas Bourchier, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to take Richard with him, so that the boy could reside in the Tower and keep his brother Edward company.

[14] In March 1484, Elizabeth Woodville and her daughters were persuaded, according to the Crowland Chronicle, to withdraw from sanctuary under "frequent intercessions and dire threats".

[15] Richard III additionally swore a public oath, promising that they would "not suffer any manner hurt" nor would he "imprison [them] within the Tower of London or other prison".

[16][17] It was rumoured that Richard III intended to marry Elizabeth of York because his wife, Anne Neville, was dying and they had no surviving children.

Richard III had the larger army, but was betrayed by one of his most powerful nobles, William Stanley, and became the last English king to die in battle.

Ultimately, however, the marriage was approved by papal bull of Pope Innocent VIII dated March 1486 (one month after the wedding) stating that the Pope and his advisors "Approveth confirmyth and stablishyth the matrimonye and coniuncion made betwene our sou[er]ayn lord King Henre the seuenth of the house of Lancastre of that one party And the noble Princesse Elyzabeth of the house of Yorke.

"[26] Because the journey to Rome and back took many months, and because Henry as king wanted to be certain that nobody could claim that his wedding to Elizabeth was unlawful or sinful, the more local application was obeyed first—it was sent to the papal legate for England and Scotland, which returned in January 1486.

Elizabeth's sisters, Cecily and Anne of York, and her cousin, Margaret Pole, were married to Lancastrian men who were loyal to Henry.

Similar strategies had been used before by Richard III of England, though in that case the Titulus Regius had marred the status of Elizabeth and all of her sisters as illegitimate, and Richard had no intention of making it difficult for the two sides of the conflict to return to factionalism when two were married into one – his actions showed he was more interested in loyalty and eliminating rival claims by wedding them off to the inconsequential.

[31] Surviving in the British National Archives are letters written by Elizabeth of York and also a records of her privy purse, supplying evidence that the rumour regarding Henry's mistreatment of his wife could be false.

Within a year of the Battle of Bosworth, a friend of Henry Tudor, Thomas Lovell, began expanding and improving upon the Elsyng property to make it fit for Elizabeth, her husband, and her children-to-be, completed by the time of the birth of Prince Henry with inner and outer courts and ample places to play for the royal children.

This was largely done as a gift, but it was completed in the newer Renaissance style and in time was suitable enough for Henry and Elizabeth's grandchildren and proves it was a much loved refuge for the king and his wife.

[36] The account books, kept by Henry, demonstrate that he spent a great deal of gold on expensive cloth for himself, his wife and his children.

[37] Elizabeth of York did not exercise much political influence as queen due to her strong-minded mother-in-law Lady Margaret Beaufort.

The news of Arthur's death caused Henry VII to break down in grief, as much in fear for his dynasty as in mourning for his son.

Elizabeth comforted him, telling him that he was the only child of his mother but had survived to become king, that God had left him with a son and two daughters, and that they were both young enough to have more children.

[52] Henry VII entertained thoughts of remarriage to renew the alliance with Spain—Joanna, Dowager Queen of Naples (daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples), Joanna, Queen of Castile (daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella), and Margaret, Dowager Duchess of Savoy (sister-in-law of Joanna of Castile), were all considered [53]—but he died a widower in 1509.

[59] Her tomb was opened in the 19th century and the wood casing of her lead coffin was found to have been removed to create space for the interment of her great-great-grandson James VI and I.

Henry VIII owned a version of her portrait, displayed with a silk curtain, described in his inventory as a "table with the Picture of Quene Elizabeth with a Curten of yellowe & white sarceonet paned togethers".