Only reading half the evidence …

This article seems to cite all the right sources in implying that there is a false paternity event in the short line between Edward III and Richard III. However, they haven’t examined Edward III’s Y-chromosome or the much longer paternal chain to the (Regency) 5th Duke of Beaufort, as we did here. Hilariously, even one… Continue reading Only reading half the evidence …

A few years ago …

… we showed you, through the use of snooker balls, how it is significantly more probable that the Y-chromosome break occurred in the long Gaunt-Beaufort male line than the Langley-York line to Richard III.Although snooker was a nineteenth century invention, some earlier monarchs might well have enjoyed it: Harold II, whose informal wife (in more… Continue reading A few years ago …

Has mtDNA identified Jack the Ripper?

“Ripperology” is quite a confused subject and at least a dozen suspects have been conclusively “identified as the Whitechapel fiend. Nevertheless, this article and the book detailed within, if taken at face value, uses the scientific techniques that identified Richard III, Jesse James, Nicholas II and others to claim to solve the East London riddle… Continue reading Has mtDNA identified Jack the Ripper?

Richard III, snooker and probability

One thing of which we can be certain is that Richard III never played snooker. It was not invented until 1875 in Jabalpur by a Colonel Chamberlain (1). Nevertheless, it is an excellent vehicle for demonstrating the laws of probability with particular reference to the descent of the Plantagenet Y-chromosome from Edward III. Imagine that… Continue reading Richard III, snooker and probability