In the late 1400s, the House of York fought the House of Lancaster for the English crown. Because Lancaster's heraldic badge was a red rose and the Yorks were a white rose, the long conflict became known as the Wars of the Roses. The real lives of the main participants in the War of the Roses will be presented in this article. In Shakespeare's Richard III, the participants in the Wars of the Roses were not properly portrayed. The participants in Shakespeare's Richard III were Henry Tudor, Clarence, Edward V, Richard III; The life of Queen Margaret will be exposed in this article. In Shakespeare's play, Richard III was portrayed as an ill-formed, wicked and ill-fated tyrant. But that wasn't the case. Richard III was a kind and handsome man. Shakespeare only did this so that Queen Elizabeth would be happy with what she saw when she went to see the play. Because Queen Elizabeth was a Lancastrian, Shakespeare wanted his family to appear noble. Richard III could not have been misrepresented like Shakespeare said, because in real life Richard III was a knight who fought in battles. He could not have been deformed if he had been a knight, because he would have had to fight with his sword and shield. A search on www.yahoo.com indicated that in the play Clarence was a good guy who loved everyone, but in real life Clarence was imprisoned. and executed for committing treason. The search engine www.altavista.com indicated that in the play, Shakespeare said that Richard killed Clarence so that he could have undisputed lineage to the throne. Shakespeare also said that Richard killed young Edward V and his brother so that he could be next in line for the crown. But that's not true because Richard didn't really do it. There is a lot of speculation about whether Richard did it or not. There is other evidence to support Richard. Some scholars believe that Richard did not trust the English in the South and so sent young Edward V and his brother north to be looked after by one of Richard's consultants named Sheriff Hutton. www.richardIII.com stated that Shakespeare also stated that Richard married Lady Anne but later killed her. In real life, Clarence, disguised as a guard, hid her in a London bakery. Richard then found her and brought her to a religious shrine so that they could legally marry, which they later did. Shakespeare also said that Richard was always plotting to become king, such as killing his brother Clarence and killing young.