A former Alton Towers worker is fighting to clear the name of Richard III, the monarch whose bloodstained reputation was immortalized by Shakespeare.

Author and historian Harry J Tomkinson has launched a literary campaign to restore the historical legacy of one of England’s most notorious monarchs.

Since Shakespeare’s day, King Richard III has been depicted as a vile hunchback, an evil brute of a man who plotted his way to the throne – even murdering his own nephews, the two "princes in the tower."

An illustration of King Richard III
An illustration of King Richard III

Shakespeare’s famous play, Richard III set the tone for centuries of abuse of the name of the last Plantaganet king.

Now Harry, a retired team leader at Alton Towers, is working to redress that balance. A member of the Richard III Society – and a volunteer at the Richard III Visitor Centre in Leicester – he has written his first novel, published by Austin Macauley Publishers, Treachery At Bosworth Field 1485.

His novel – a work of fiction, but extensively researched – is told from Richard’s point of view, and deals with the events which led to the monarch’s defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth Field.

Sandyford-born Harry, aged 74, who now lives in Kingsley, said: "Having my first book published is a huge moment for me. It has been two years in the making.

"I have always been interested in King Richard III, from quite a young age. I have always thought he was given a bad deal. I have tried to address that by putting the record straight, in my small way.

"I have written this book in the first person, through the eyes of King Richard III. It is a work of fiction, but I have done a lot of research and I have tried to stay true to the facts.

Harry Tomkinson is looking to defend the reputation of Richard III
Harry Tomkinson is looking to defend the reputation of Richard III

"The Tudor propaganda machine kicked in straight after the Battle of Bosworth Field. King Henry Tudor (Henry VII), tried to discredit Richard. He destroyed many records, including the Act of Parliament which gave Richard the right to the throne.

"Richard III has been much maligned for hundreds of years. When Shakespeare came along, his reputation was set. I like Shakespeare, but his histories are not very accurate. He was a playwright, not a historian and got most of his information from Sir Thomas More, who was only about five-years-old when the Battle of Bosworth Field was fought.

"Richard is portrayed as evil and he is accused of murdering his nephews, the princes in the tower. A lot of people believe the remains of the princes were found in 1674 under the White Tower, but I don’t believe that. There’s quite a bit of evidence to show that these bodies were not the princes. My theory is that King Charles II made this up to deflect attention away from his own reign, which was in trouble, by dragging up the story of Richard III.

"Richard did lodge the princes in the tower, but at that time it was not a prison, it was a luxury royal place – and probably the safest place to be."

Harry has teamed up with Philippa Langley – the author who found the remains of King Richard III – in an attempt to clear the monarch of the charge of murdering his nephews once and for all.

"Philippa has enlisted four former chief superintendents from the Metropolitan Police to look at all the evidence,” said Harry.

"The consensus is, that if the charges were brought before a court today, Richard would have no case to answer."

Richard III statue in Leicester city centre
Richard III statue in Leicester city centre

Harry, a widower – who has two children, a son aptly named Richard, and a daughter, Sarah, four grandchildren and one great grandchild – takes readers through the tumultuous years of the War of the Roses in his novel, an age which pitted the houses of York and Lancaster against each other in what was truly a game of thrones.

Richard III, of the House of York, sat upon the throne of England following the death of his brother, Edward IV, who had in turn taken the crown from King Henry VI. Richard was initially named protector of the realm for Edward’s son and heir, the 12-year-old Edward V. The boy king, however, was lodged in the Tower of London by Richard, along with his younger brother, Richard of Shrewsbury.

Richard III's funeral crown, displayed at Tewkesbury Abbey in 2014
Richard III's funeral crown, displayed at Tewkesbury Abbey in 2014

But a publicity campaign, condemning Edward IV’s marriage to the boys’ mother, Elizabeth Woodville, eventually led to the marriage – and the children – being declared illegitimate, a declaration which was endorsed by an assembly of lords and commoners. King Richard III began his reign the next day and the princes mysteriously disappeared.

However, within two years of King Richard’s reign, Henry Tudor – a Lancastrian claimant to the throne living in France – had landed in Wales and marched his army to Bosworth Field, where he engaged Richard in battle. Although the ruling monarch had superior numbers, several of his lieutenants deserted him. Henry was victorious – and Richard became the last English king to be slain in battle.

King Richard III’s body was discovered by archaeologists under a car park in Leicester in 2012 – the event which first inspired Harry to write his novel.

"It was just utopia for me," recalled Harry. "I had been a member of the Richard III Society for a number of years, it was amazing that Philippa (Langley) had managed to do this.

"The idea for this novel was already there, but it was that which inspired me to sit down and write it."

Treachery at Bosworth Field, by Harry Tomkinson
Treachery at Bosworth Field, by Harry Tomkinson

Treachery At Bosworth Field 1485, is available from all good bookshops, from Amazon, and from the publishers, www.austinmacauley.com