The skeleton of King Richard III was found buried under a church parking lot. Now, three years later, the famous English monarch will get a proper burial in Leicester Cathedral. It has been 530 years since the king died in the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was later immortalized in William Shakespeare's "Richard III" as the tyrant who exclaimed, "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" The DNA of his 17th-generation nephew, Michael Ibsen, helped to finally confirm that the parking lot bones discovered in 2012 were indeed Richard III's.
On Tuesday, the monarch's remains were sealed inside of a coffin built by Ibsen from English oak in his workshop. Forensic evidence indicates that the English king suffered 11 wounds, including nine to the head and one to the pelvis. The burial ceremony will take place on Thursday and be overseen by the Archbishop of Canterbury, with several members of the royal family in attendance. "The last time he left that battlefield, he left it naked slung over a horse," Philippa Langley, a member of the Richard III Society who helped raise funds to exhume the king's body, told Reuters. "To take him back him there and to honor him there now as a king, I think it's making peace with the past so I hope that will be a special thing."
IN-DEPTH
- Bones Tell the Grisly Tale Behind King Richard III's Death
- Elderly Mystery Woman Found Buried in Coffin Near Richard III
- They Found Richard III. So Now What? (Smithsonian)