King Richard III Reburied in Leicester
Today brings one of the most unusual pieces of news in Britain’s long and storied history as King Richard III, who is regarded as one of the most violent and bloody monarchs in English history, is being reburied in Leicester Cathedral more than 500 years after his death. The story is quite bizarre, as the king’s body was discovered below a parking lot in September of 2012 in something of a crazy coincidence as his tomb was found almost immediately in the dig during an ambitious and extremely organized project created with the sole purpose of finding his remains.
At the time, archaeologists didn’t even know who they dug up, but years of analysis proves to almost a 100% certainty that the remains were indeed those of King Richard III. From his curved spine, to the wounds on his skull – even the DNA that was sampled – it all shows that this was indeed the fallen king. His new grave is mere feet from some of the friars who quickly disposed of his body after his killing in the late 15th century at the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last British king to die in battle.
King Richard III had a short but controversial reign, and his royal burial didn’t come off without some controversy. One group strongly campaigned that the monarch should be buried in York rather than Leicester and claimed that this ceremony was a publicity stunt created to garner headlines and earn money.
This was probably the hottest ticket in England today. The royal burial was presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Countess of Wessex and others as lines of Britons and tourists grew into the thousands as they all sought after the small number of seats available for the ceremony or just to watch in large public gatherings on outdoor screens. Even Benedict Cumberbatch, who many believe to be a distant relative to the king (2nd cousin 16 removed, to be exact) was present and recited a short poem at the ceremony.
