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You are here: Home / Forensics / It is King Richard III

It is King Richard III

February 4, 2013 By Alice

the remains of King Richard IIItrauma on the skull of Richard IIIIt is King Richard III. It has now been confirmed that indeed the skeleton found beneath a parking lot is his. Richard’s remains were said to have been buried in Greyfriars church, Leicester. But this church was lost until archaeologists excavated a car park and discovered medieval remains. Victorian foundations had almost destroyed the entire grave and the feet were lost.

These pictures are from a BBC newspaper article and the photographs are from the University of Leicester and Jeff Overs.

“His skeleton had suffered 10 injuries, including eight to the skull. The bones, which are of a man in his late 20s or early 30s, have been carbon dated to a period from 1455-1540. Richard was 32 when he was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.

Speaking at the press conference at the University of Leicester, Dr Turi King, project geneticist, said there had been concern DNA in the bones would be too degraded: “The question was could we get a sample of DNA to work with, and I am extremely pleased to tell you that we could.” She added: “There is a DNA match between the maternal DNA of the descendants of the family of Richard III and the skeletal remains we found at the Greyfriars dig. “In short, the DNA evidence points to these being the remains of Richard III.”

Richard III’s remains will be reburied in Leicester Cathedral, close to the site of his original grave, in a memorial service expected to be held early next year, once analysis of the bones is completed.

Many know this King as a deformed monster as successfully portrait by many actors on stage and in the movies. However, all the monster characteristics were added during the reigns of Richard’s successors. It will be interesting to see the facial reconstruction and to compare that to the surviving portraits of this King.

UPDATE: here is a photograph of the facial reconstruction from the BBC!

facial reconstruction King Richard III

I have started a mini-series about the accusations that King Richard III murdered his nephews, Edward V and Richard of York.

Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here.

The rest will be posted soon.

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Filed Under: Forensics, Historical Mysteries Tagged With: DNA, facial reconstruction, Forensics, King Richard III, the Battle of Bosworth

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  1. Part 3: King Richard III: Ruthless Ruler? Yes. Regicide? No. says:
    November 2, 2015 at 10:55 am

    […] this area, both Richard III and Henry VII faced some […]

  2. On ReInventLaw – London – Oxford – Glasgow and meeting friends! says:
    October 14, 2013 at 10:24 am

    […] Richard of York were murdered. Their cases of course, regained media attention after the remains of King Richard III were […]

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On my website, I write about old, unsolved cases. Most are from the pre-DNA era and need renewed media attention. I only do research and leave active investigation of these cases to the professionals.

My posts are about homicides, missing and unidentified people, wrongful convictions, and forensics as related to these cases.

On book reviews: I only review select works of true crime, crime fiction, and historical fiction/mysteries. The stories have to fit my website's theme and research. It remains my prerogative to not review a book. Please check the FAQ page for more!

My database has hundreds of cases listed by the victim’s last name. You will find a brief description there as well. The database is free to the public.

All writing suggestions for cases that come in by email are added to my to-do list in the order in which they were received. Please be patient. My to-do list is very long but no case gets dropped and I will get back in touch.

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Alice de Sturler

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Copyright: Please add a link back if you use my work. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. If you need help with this, just contact me. Thank you, Alice de Sturler

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