Richard III orders of service go on sale at 'extortionate' prices on eBay
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Version 0 of 1. The dean of Leicester has told of his sadness at discovering that copies of the orders of service from Richard III’s reburial were being sold for up to £300 on eBay. Some of the specially printed card booklets from the week of historic ceremonies at St Martin’s cathedral were being offered on the auction site on Monday at more than 20 times what the church was selling them for. About 600 people attended the reburial service, including dignitaries, the archeologists who discovered Richard’s remains, descendants of the last Plantagenet king, veterans guarding the coffin and members of the public who won their seats through a hugely oversubscribed public ballot. The dean of Leicester, the Very Rev David Monteith, said it was sad that people were trying to cash in on the event. He said: “We’ve noticed that service booklets from the cathedral’s services are being sold for extortionate prices on eBay, presumably by those who attended the services. “This is very sad – many would have welcomed being there and keeping this as a souvenir.” A listing on eBay on Monday afternoon offered original copies of the three orders of service, from the ceremonies of compline, reinterment and reveal, plus a “mint condition” copy of the Leicester Mercury newspaper from the day of the reinterment and a separate Mercury supplement, for £300. A copy of the reinterment service alone was listed separately for £150 although the seller said proceeds “will be going to my local church that requires a new roof”. Monteith said the cathedral had printed extra copies of the booklets and was selling all three for £12.50. St Martin’s is still raising £200,000 of the £2.5m it needs to pay for hosting the historic week of events and overhauling the old building. Among those present at Thursday’s ceremony were the Countess of Wessex, representing the Queen, and the actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who has been shown to be a distant cousin of Richard’s, and read a specially commissioned poem, written by Carol Ann Duffy, during the service. Cathedral bosses were at great pains to ensure that the reburial was a solemn occasion of “dignity and honour”. An estimated 35,000 people queued for hours to see the coffin at the cathedral and large crowds also thronged the streets of Leicester for the cortege to St Martin’s and the reburial service. |