Q&A
What were conditions like for children kept in the Tower of London?
The child prisoners we know most about are those of high status. Just like adult noblemen and women, they would have been kept in comfortable accommodation, often attended by servants. Some were even allowed visitors – or were visitors themselves. We know that Sir Walter Ralegh, one of the Tower’s longest-serving prisoners, had his wife and children to stay in his apartments in the Bloody Tower.
However, if a child or their family fell foul of the monarch, then they might find these luxuries swiftly withdrawn. Edward IV’s young sons,
