Richard of York's Claim to the English Throne

Richard, Duke of York, could claim the English crown from both sides of his family.

Edward III had left the crown to Richard II, his grandson through his eldest son. After Richard, next in line to the throne was Philippa, daughter of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the second son of Edward III. The claim passed through Philippa's son Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, to his son Edmund. At Edmund's death, it transferred to Anne Mortimer, who married Richard, Earl of Cambridge; their son Richard of York thus had the strongest claim to the throne, though carried through a woman (Anne).

On his father's side, Richard of York was the grandson of Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, King Edward III's fifth son. Since the Beaufort line (children of John of Lancaster through his third marriage) had been excluded by Henry IV's parliament from succession (1407), Richard of York was next in line to the throne, in the event that Henry VI died without an heir.