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Richard III's relatives lose battle over reburial in Leicester Richard III's descendants lose battle over reburial in Leicester
(about 1 hour later)
Distant relatives of Richard III have lost their high court battle with the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, over where the monarch's recently discovered remains should be reburied. Descendants of the family of Richard III, the last king of England to die on a battlefield, have lost their legal battle over where his recently discovered remains should be reinterred.
Richard's battle-scarred bones were found under a council car park in Leicester, and there are plans for them to be reinterred at the city's cathedral. As three high court judges ruled they should remain in Leicester, where his twisted and traumatised skeleton was found under a council car park, they said it was "time for King Richard III to be given a dignified reburial, and finally laid to rest".
Three judges ruled on Friday that is where they should remain and it was "time for King Richard III to be given a dignified reburial, and finally laid to rest". They rejected a bid by distant relatives from the Plantagenet Alliance that the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, was under a legal duty to set up a wide-ranging consultation over the reburial site. The alliance, which was set up by the 16th great-nephew of Richard III, who had no direct descendants, favoured reinterment in York Minister, arguing it was the wish "of the last medieval king of England" who was known as Richard of York.
The judges rejected a bid by relatives who make up the Plantagenet Alliance for a ruling that Grayling is under a legal duty to set up a wide-ranging public consultation exercise to decide where the king's final resting place should be. His remains, bearing the unmistakable signs of scoliosis and traumatic injury consistent with contemporaneous accounts of his physical stature and nature of death during the 1485 Battle of Bosworth Field, were discovered more than 500 years later in 2012, and confirmed through mitochondrial DNA tests on descendents of his sister, Anne of York.
Richard was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 – ending the Wars of the Roses and the Plantagenet dynasty. Since then "passions have been roused and much ink has been spilt" over his life, death and place of reinterment", said Lady Justice Hallet, sitting with Mr Justice Ouseley and Mr Justice Haddon-Cave.
His body was taken to Leicester by supporters of the victorious Henry VII and buried in Greyfriars church, now the site of the council car park. They ruled Grayling had acted reasonably and lawfully in consulting with the "sovereign, state and church", and in granting an exhumation licence which allowed the University of Leicester, which led the archeological dig on the site of the Grey Friars Priory in Leicester, to determine Leicester cathedral as the place of reburial.
The alliance indicated it wanted the remains to be buried at York Minster, claiming that was the wish "of the last medieval king of England", who was known as Richard of York. Dismissing a claim for wide-ranging public consultation, the judges said there was no "legitimate expectation" that Richard III's "collateral descendants would be consulted after centuries in relation to an exhumed historical figure". Any public consultation was "not capable of sensible limit" as there were potentially millions of collateral descendants of the king.
But their counsel, Gerard Clarke, told the court at a recent hearing the alliance would be satisfied if a consultation exercise was launched, and suggested the Queen and royal household should be at the top of the list of consultees. There was applause at Leicester cathedral as the Bishop of Leicester, Tim Stevens, read out the result at 10am to a crowd of supporters and media.
Clarke said it should also include the distant relatives themselves as well as members of the public. He said the issue was important as the last English king to die in battle "is not just any old bones". "We are, of course, delighted," he said. "Here in the cathedral, in the diocese, in the city, in the county, we've waited a long time for this."
But Lady Justice Hallett, sitting with Mr Justice Ouseley and Mr Justice Haddon-Cave, ruled there were no public law grounds for interfering with the plans for reburial at Leicester cathedral. He said plans for the reinterment that had been on hold could now progress.
The three judges said in a joint ruling: "Since Richard III's exhumation on 5 September 2012, passions have been roused and much ink has been spilt. Issues relating to his life and death and place of reinterment have been exhaustively examined and debated. Nick Rushton, leader of Leicestershire county council, said: "It has been a very undignified time as you must remember this is the body of a man – and a king of England. He deserves to be buried with dignity and honour in Leicester cathedral."
"The very reverend David Monteith, the dean of Leicester cathedral, has explained the considerable efforts and expenditure invested by the cathedral in order to create a lasting burial place as befits an anointed king." Wendy Moorhen, deputy chair of the Richard III Society, said while they acknowledged "the sincerity" of the Plantagenet Alliance case, further arguments over the king's final resting place "can only be counterproductive to the solemnity of the reburial".
It is unclear whether the alliance will seek to appeal. But Grayling condemned the alliance's legal action, saying it had "taken up so much time and money". While pleased at the judgment, he was "frustrated and angry that the Plantagenet Alliance – a group with tenuous claims to being relatives of Richard III – have taken up so much time and public money".
Grayling angrily condemned the alliance's legal action: "I have been very clear from the start that the decision to grant an exhumation licence for Richard III was taken correctly and in line with the law," he said. "I am pleased the court has reached the same conclusion and comprehensively rejected all of the claimant's arguments.
"I am, however, frustrated and angry that the Plantagenet Alliance – a group with tenuous claims to being relatives of Richard III – have taken up so much time and public money.
"This case, brought by a shell company set up by the alliance to avoid paying legal costs, is an example of exactly why the government is bringing forward a package of reforms to the judicial review process.""This case, brought by a shell company set up by the alliance to avoid paying legal costs, is an example of exactly why the government is bringing forward a package of reforms to the judicial review process."
The case had "unique and exceptional features" and the archeological discovery of the mortal remains of a king of England after 500 years "may fairly be described as 'unprecedented'", the judges said. But there were "no public law grounds for the court interfering with the decision in question".
It is currently unclear whether or not the alliance will seek to appeal.
Richard III's death marked the end of the middle ages, and he has remained a significant and controversial figure ever since. Tudor propagandists in the 16th century portrayed him in a negative light. Thomas More described him as "little of stature, ill-featured of limbs, crook-backed … hard-favoured of image".
The Richard III Society, formed in 1924, has since sought to rehabilitate his image as a good and humane man.
Contemporaneous accounts report his body was found among others slain, a halter was thrown around his neck, his naked body was slung over a horse with head, arms and legs dangling, and he was bought to a church in Leicester and irreverently buried.
Professor Mark Thompson, the senior pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Leicester, said it was "delighted" at the ruling, not just for the university, but also for the city and the cathedral.
"This has been a major research project and we were always very clear from the outset that our intention was to reinter the remains in the cathedral," he added.
The reinterment ceremony will take place next spring.