Michael Pennington and The English Shakespeare Company's vibrant and internationally acclaimed production of King Richard II. The start of the Wars of The Roses. On the death of Edward III England's legitimate heir was Richard II the only surviving child of Edward's eldest son the late Black Prince. As Richard was only 10 years old his uncle John of Gaunt was regent; but Richard earned the antagonism of his cousin Henry Bolingbroke which led to his being deposed and eventually brutally murdered.