The young Edward V, King of England, enters London where he is crowned. But the king's uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, eager to come to the throne, contemplates the loss of the young king and his brother. He therefore had them declared bastards and locked them up in the Tower of London. The Duke of Buckingham and the king's supporters help the two prisoners escape. They are recaptured and delivered to the assassins. Gloucester usurps the crown. But mortally wounded in the war, he succumbs, prey to the remorse awakened in his conscience by the vision of his victims.