Richard III, the last English king to die in battle and whose remains were found under a car park three years ago, was reburied yesterday in a ceremony the current Queen said was of “great international significance”.
Depicted by Shakespeare as a sadistic, crafty hunchback, Richard was re-interred at Leicester Cathedral in England some 530 years after he was slain at the Battle of Bosworth Field on August 22, 1485.
Following the battle, his naked body was thrown on the back of a horse, taken to nearby Leicester and buried in a humble grave.
At a sombre ceremony yesterday, he was reburied with the honour his modern-day supporters say his conqueror in battle Henry Tudor, later Henry VII, denied him.
“The reinterment of King Richard III is an event of great national and international significance,” Queen Elizabeth said in a message.
Despite reigning just 777 days, he still fascinates not just historians but ordinary people across the world, some of whom made the trip to Britain to witness the ceremony.
Among the guests were the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and minor royals including the Queen’s cousin, the Duke of Gloucester. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who himself has been identified as a second cousin, 16 times removed of the dead king, read a poem entitled “Richard”.
The death of Richard, the last Plantagenet king, marked the end of the Wars of the Roses between the rival Houses of York and Lancaster.
Richard, the self-styled King of England and France and Lord of Ireland, was just 32 when he was killed in battle.