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Hastings was a loyal friend of King Edward IV.
As one of Edward's most trusted friends, he was privy to the secret that Edward's second and third-born children were not sons named Edward and Richard but daughters named Susan and Judith. While Edward's brother Richard escorted the "Princes" to London in the wake of his death in 1483 so that the young Edward could be crowned, Richard discovered this and that his brother had lied for the continued stability of England. Upon reaching the capital, Richard rounded up and executed everyone else who knew the truth, including Hastings, before declaring the "Princes" bastards and crowning himself king. Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, observed that it seemed Richard had gone "completely loopy", arresting many without reason and letting most go almost immediately. (AUDIO: The Kingmaker)