The King’s Grave
by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones
RICHARD III WAS KILLED at Bosworth Field 0n August 22, 1485, the last king of England to die in battle. His victorious opponent, Henry Tudor, the future Henry VII, went on to found one of our most famous ruling dynasties. Richard’s body was displayed in undignified fashion for two days in nearby Leicester and then hurriedly interred in the church of the Greyfriars. Fifty years later, at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, the king’s grave was lost – its contents believed emptied into the River Soar.
Richard’s reputation was buried under a mound of Tudor propaganda, culminating in Shakespeare’s compelling portrayal of a deformed and murderous villain, written over a hundred years after Richard’s death.
In an incredible 21st Century find, his remains were uncovered beneath a Leicester car park. The King’s Grave traces this remarkable story. Philippa Langley, whose years of research and conviction that she would find Richard in the exact place where he was discovered, reveals the inside story of the search for the his grave, and historian Michael Jones tells of Richard’s 15th century life and death.
