It’s been quite a while since I last wrote about the modern battle royal between Leicester and York over Richard III’s remains. Click here to pull up a list of all my old posts, which have details about what has been happening over the past few years.

Long story short, skeletal remains subsequently identified as those of Richard III were found under a car park in Leicester a few years ago. There was a brief kerfuffle when some people claimed the skeleton was not Richard III, but that contrary idea was eventually quashed, with folks now agreeing that the skeleton they found was indeed Richard III.

Then, as soon as it was certain that the remains were of Richard III, people in York wanted to bury their glorious son of York there. However, it was finders-keepers as far as Leicester was concerned. I.e., Leicester had found him and folks there wanted to keep him, in order to give him a big splashy interment in their own cathedral.

Many court cases later, the people of Leicester have prevailed, and the burial of Richard III will be a multi-day affair starting on March 22, with a procession that will take the coffin around the area, on a tour to visit local places of interest – er, relevance – to Richard. He’ll visit places such as:

• the St. James church in Dadlington and Sutton Cheney, the church where Richard is said to have prayed for victory the night before the battle of Bosworth

• the history center at the Bosworth Battlefield, site of Richard’s final battle; it’s where he didn’t get the victory that he’d prayed for the night before

• the Fenn Lane Farm, the site where Richard is said to have died

After all that, Richard will be ceremoniously conveyed to Leicester Cathedral, taken on the final leg of the journey on a horse-drawn hearse. I’m not sure that’s the the kind of horse Shakespeare had him giving his kingdom for, but at least it’s a horse, I guess.  Here’s an excerpt from a description of the funeral cortege:

… The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Tim Stevens, will then lead a ceremony at the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre in the early afternoon, on the site of Henry Tudor’s decisive victory in 1485 and the demise of the last Plantagenet king.

The cortege will then travel to Market Bosworth, Newbold Verdon and Desford before making its way back to Leicester.

The King’s mortal remains will re-enter the City of Leicester in mid-afternoon at Bow Bridge, where they will be greeted by the City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, and the Lord Mayor, councillor John Thomas… – from an article in the Independent, Oct 14, 2014

If this all seems a bit much, the people of York couldn’t agree more.  They are still up-in-arms about losing out on hosting Richard’s burial spot, and have accused Leicester of milking all the profits they can from Richard’s burial, funeral, and internment. The headline in the article I quote above warns that the War of the Roses II might break out over this, since people on each side are so passionate about the issue.

One thing is certain: between now and March the folks in York will need to find a way through their own winter of discontent: their lot won’t be made a “glorious summer by this son of York,” since he won’t be coming to York.

Well, at least not this winter.

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BTW, an interest in all things Richard III has crept into a variety of fields.  Click here to read an article about Richard’s “life on a bird diet” (well, that’s my characterization of it, not his).