two years older than Cecily, died at the age of 14 from an unknown illness, and Margaret, who was about three years younger than Cecily, died in infancy. Neither of Cecily's three full-brothers survive adulthood: George died at about two years of age, and the other two, Edward V and Richard, disappeared from the Tower in 1483 during the reign of their uncle King Richard III. Her paternal grandparents were Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York (who claimed the rights of the House of York to the English throne) and Cecily Neville, and her maternal grandparents were Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Dowager Duchess of Bedford. Presumably Cecily was named after her paternal grandmother. Reign of Edward IV Crisis of 1469–1471 The birth of Cecily, the third daughter in a row, was a great disappointment for Edward IV. For the first time he suggested that he would not have sons and that the crown could pass to his eldest daughter, Elizabeth. In the first months of Cecily's life, an acute political crisis arose in the country: Edward IV's most powerful supporter, the Earl of Warwick, dissatisfied with the king for a number of reasons, entered into an alliance with Edward's younger brother George, Duke of Clarence. They moved their troops from Calais to England and announced George's claim to the English throne. During this time, Cecily's mother, along with at least two daughters, one of whom was Elizabeth, visited Norwich, where they were received with magnificent celebrations and theatrical performances; it is not known for certain which of the two younger princesses at that time accompanied her mother, however, it was probably Mary rather than Cecily, who was very young. Soon Warwick captured the king, and executed without trial Cecily's maternal grandfather and uncle – Earl Rivers and John Woodville. At the same time, Cecily's maternal grandmother, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, was arrested after being accused of witchcraft and the use of love spells on the king. Although Jacquetta was acquitted, this unpleasant episode, as well as the unmotivated execution of Rivers, showed how far the enemies of Edward IV were ready to go to destroy his wife and her family. Despite all this, the queen herself and her daughters were not harmed during Warwick's brief rise, except that Cecily's mother was assigned a reduced staff of servants. By the autumn of 1469, Edward IV managed