He didn’t wear a crown… but his choice may have changed the course of English history.

On 29th July 1504, Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, died quietly at his manor in Lancashire. But nearly two decades earlier, at the bloody Battle of Bosworth, his decision to support his stepson — Henry Tudor — was a turning point in English history, ending centuries of Plantagenet rule and beginning the Tudor era.

Some say he stood back and watched until the moment was right. Others claim he crowned Henry on the battlefield with Richard’s fallen crown.

Was Thomas Stanley a loyal stepfather… or a master manipulator who waited to see which way the wind would blow?

In this episode of On This Day in Tudor History,I take you beyond the battlefield drama to explore:

• Stanley’s powerful family backgrou ...