Slithy may well have it right. Clarence was a bumbler and an extremely bad picker of sides to be on in family feuds. He managed to annoy almost the entire Plantagenet family, but it was Edward IV, his elder brother, rather than Richard III, his younger brother who decided enough was enough. He was attainted for high treason - one of those gloriously vague charges in late mediaeval law - which may or may not have implied that he'd had a go at bumping Edward off during that unfortunate little incident in 1470. You'll remember it well, I'm sure, Bill.

George appeared to lack both common sense and common courtesy. Deadly sins, both, in a mediaeval court as volatile as Ted and Rick's, surely! He interefered in the business of the law courts to his own advantage (a practice called "maintenance") on such a regular basis that the King was probably rather peeved with him. It could have been this which led directly to his arrest, attainder, incareration in the Tower and his eventually involuntarily drinking himself to death. Was Malmsey wine any good? You shouldn't drown your rellies in just any old rubbish, should you?

But it was certainly Edward rather than Richard who orchestrated his demise. Richard wasn't trusted by either of his elder brothers, and quite rightly, although you should remember that the story of Richard III was written during Tudor times. He wasn't exactly going to get good press, was he? Especially not from Bill the Scrivener, who was (God only knows why) a full-time Tudor-booster.

- Pfranz