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| Richard III: Once vilified as a tyrant, the former king is given a royal send-off | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| The last time Richard III visited Bosworth Field, on 22 August 1485, he was hacked to death. This time his mortal remains, discovered to worldwide astonishment beneath a Leicester car park in 2012, got a much friendlier reception. | The last time Richard III visited Bosworth Field, on 22 August 1485, he was hacked to death. This time his mortal remains, discovered to worldwide astonishment beneath a Leicester car park in 2012, got a much friendlier reception. |
| Though he never received so much as a horse for his kingdom 530 years ago, today he got HRH the Duke of Gloucester, an admiring crowd of 2,000 people and a 21-gun salute. | Though he never received so much as a horse for his kingdom 530 years ago, today he got HRH the Duke of Gloucester, an admiring crowd of 2,000 people and a 21-gun salute. |
| In exchange, the spectators got a knight in shining armour (from the specially formed Kynges Guard re-enactment group) marching ahead of the coffin, ceremonial broadsword held aloft, to the slow beat of a drum. Someone even thought to lower the standard of Richard’s nemesis Henry VII, which normally flies at the battlefield. | In exchange, the spectators got a knight in shining armour (from the specially formed Kynges Guard re-enactment group) marching ahead of the coffin, ceremonial broadsword held aloft, to the slow beat of a drum. Someone even thought to lower the standard of Richard’s nemesis Henry VII, which normally flies at the battlefield. |
| The ceremonial procession was just the curtain raiser (Getty) The ceremonial procession – leading from Leicester to Bosworth, then back through the city to the cathedral – was just the curtain raiser for commemorations culminating in Thursday’s service of reinterment, to be attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury. | The ceremonial procession was just the curtain raiser (Getty) The ceremonial procession – leading from Leicester to Bosworth, then back through the city to the cathedral – was just the curtain raiser for commemorations culminating in Thursday’s service of reinterment, to be attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury. |
| From far and wide they came to pay tribute to a king vilified by Shakespeare as a hunchbacked tyrant. | From far and wide they came to pay tribute to a king vilified by Shakespeare as a hunchbacked tyrant. |
| “I’ve been fascinated by Richard III since reading a book about the Plantagenets as a teenager,” said Tim King, 60, a marine surveyor who had come from Melbourne, Australia, to see it all. “I want to see justice, for Richard III to be seen, not as a saint, but as he really was.” Every move of the coffin containing his skeleton – minus the feet bones, which had been unwittingly chopped off by Victorian builders laying some foundations – was captured by 100 news cameras. | “I’ve been fascinated by Richard III since reading a book about the Plantagenets as a teenager,” said Tim King, 60, a marine surveyor who had come from Melbourne, Australia, to see it all. “I want to see justice, for Richard III to be seen, not as a saint, but as he really was.” Every move of the coffin containing his skeleton – minus the feet bones, which had been unwittingly chopped off by Victorian builders laying some foundations – was captured by 100 news cameras. |
| “I always hoped there would be a little bit of interest,” said Philippa Langley, the staunch defender of Richard III who had spearheaded the10-year quest to find and rebury his remains. “I didn’t forsee this global phenomenon.” | “I always hoped there would be a little bit of interest,” said Philippa Langley, the staunch defender of Richard III who had spearheaded the10-year quest to find and rebury his remains. “I didn’t forsee this global phenomenon.” |
| “Richard’s reputation has been returned to him,” she added proudly. “His good name has been returned to him.” His curved spine was the barely noticeable result of scoliosis; he wasn’t a hunchback, she reaffirmed. As for that business about supposedly murdering the Princes in the Tower, “there’s so much misinformation about this”. | “Richard’s reputation has been returned to him,” she added proudly. “His good name has been returned to him.” His curved spine was the barely noticeable result of scoliosis; he wasn’t a hunchback, she reaffirmed. As for that business about supposedly murdering the Princes in the Tower, “there’s so much misinformation about this”. |
| “Let us remember Richard III, the good king,” Dr Phil Stone, chairman of the Richard III Society told the crowd at Bosworth. “He introduced an early form of legal aid… His parliament helped the lower classes as much as the gentry.” | “Let us remember Richard III, the good king,” Dr Phil Stone, chairman of the Richard III Society told the crowd at Bosworth. “He introduced an early form of legal aid… His parliament helped the lower classes as much as the gentry.” |
| So after today, would we finally be rid of that hunchback and venom image from Sir Laurence Olivier’s Shakespearean portrayal of him? “That’s another matter,” said Dr Stone privately. “It’s such a damned good play.” | So after today, would we finally be rid of that hunchback and venom image from Sir Laurence Olivier’s Shakespearean portrayal of him? “That’s another matter,” said Dr Stone privately. “It’s such a damned good play.” |
| And no, this was not an awful lot of fuss for someone who died more than 500 years ago. “He was an anointed king. He deserved much better than to be carried naked on a horse before being thrown into a hole in the ground. Richard III is getting the pomp and circumstance he should have got in 1485 – and justice has no time limits.” | And no, this was not an awful lot of fuss for someone who died more than 500 years ago. “He was an anointed king. He deserved much better than to be carried naked on a horse before being thrown into a hole in the ground. Richard III is getting the pomp and circumstance he should have got in 1485 – and justice has no time limits.” |