That duke was George Plantagenet, the 2nd holder of the title whom I mentioned. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London for treason by his elder brother, Edward IV and died there apparently executed in secret on Edward's orders. There is no evidence his younger brother, the future Richard III, was involved. That was an invention of Shakespeare.
I suppose Shakespeare's wider mission on behalf of his Tudor overseers was to portray Richard III in a less-than-favorable light so he took advantage of the unknown (?) scenario of Clarence's death to portray it as very horrific. I think "Richard III" was actually the first film I ever saw in my own human life so that moment when Clarence is drowning in the "butt of Malmsey wine" just remained stunning my boy's eyes.
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