King Richard III Remains Officially Subject of U.K. High Court Battle; Where Will They End Up?
ByA court battle has officially begun in the U.K. to determine where the recently discovered remains of King Richard III should be buried.
According to BBC News, one side wants to keep the remains in the Leicester Cathedral, but Richard III's great descendants are fighting to bring his remains to York. The bones of the late king, who was killed in 1485, were discovered under a Leicester parking lot in 2012.
"It's huge. I think we are all just hoping this is going to sort everything, the judges' decision will be a hot knife through butter and everything will be clarified and we will be back on track," Philippa Langley, of one of the groups behind finding the remains known as the Richard the Third Society, told BBC News. "It has been very frustrating for everybody."
The U.K.'s High Court will decide in a hearing expected to last two days weather or not to uphold the licensing keeping the remains in Leicester Cathedral. The Plantagenet Alliance, Richard III's descendants, argue that the Ministry of Justice has not taken into account the wishes of the king's ancestors, no matter how far removed.
Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 after just a 26-month reign, one of the shortest in English history. Since Shakespeare's historical play "Richard III" immortalized the king with its fist performance in 1633, there has been debate as to weather the playwright's portrayal of Richard as a tyrant was justified.
Either way, Plantagenet Alliances lawyer Matthew Howarth said Richard's mere significance is enough to invoke a public consultation on where to bury him.
"Because he is of enormous cultural and historical significance," Howarth told BBC News. "He was one of the last medieval kings. You can't simply leave a decision on where to bury him to the University of Leicester and the Ministry of Justice."
Another lawyer for the late king's distant family, Gerald Clarke, argued that Richard III could very well end up back at Leicester, as well as York or Westminster. According to the Telegraph, the king's ancestors simply want the public consultation and believe York is where Richard would have wanted to lay.
Said Clarke to the High Court, ''Our lead point is the secretary of state's decision is flawed because he did not sufficiently inform himself of the relevant factors before he made that decision.''