Explore the Tower of London prison's intriguing past

The Tower of London, originally a royal palace and fortress, was also an infamous prison. Although not designed as a jail, it detained many, from affluent nobles to traitors, where fortunes could dramatically shift, from lavish accommodations to a swift and often violent end. Notable prisoners included Elizabeth I and Anne Boleyn, who faced vastly different fates within its walls. The Tower's narrative intertwines tales of betrayal, privileged confinements, and dramatic escapes, reflecting its complex history as a symbol of royal power and national security.

Famous prisoners at the Tower of London

• Elizabeth I: The young princess Elizabeth was imprisoned by her half-sister Mary I, who feared that Elizabeth would plot against her reign. While she stayed comfortably at her mother, Anne Boleyn’s former apartments, she was under severe psychological strain. She was later released into house arrest due to a lack of evidence.
• Other prominent queens: Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, Catherine Howard, Henry’s fifth wife, and Lady Jane Grey, the ‘nine-day queen’ were other royal prisoners. However, unlike Elizabeth I, their lives met a different fate: all 3 queens of England were executed at Tower Green.
• Princes in the Tower: In 1483, 12-year-old Edward V and his younger brother Richard, were sent to the Tower ‘for safety’ by their uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III. However, they vanished, until two small skeletons were discovered in 1674.
• Guy Fawkes: Guy Fawkes was one of the most famous prisoners, associated with the Gunpowder Plot. He was brought to the Tower to be interrogated after he was found hiding in the cellars under the Parliament with barrels of gunpowder. He was found to be one of the conspirators planning to assassinate James I but was hanged, drawn, quartered, and his body parts displayed publicly as a warning to others. 
• Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester: Robert Dudley, a childhood companion of Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth I), was imprisoned in the Tower following his father's failed attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne. Likely held in the Beauchamp Tower with his brothers, visitors can still see the intricate carvings they left behind.
• Thomas Abel: Once Chaplain to Katherine of Aragon, Thomas Abel earned his place in the Beauchamp Tower by opposing Henry VIII's divorce. His bold stance is immortalized in the tower's walls, where 'Thomas' is etched above a bell with an 'A'.
• Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel: Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel, suffered a decade-long imprisonment in the Beauchamp Tower for his Catholic faith, a threat to the Protestant realm. His name and an inscription remain carved into the tower's walls.