Richard III...Sunday 22 March 2015

It's a day I will remember for a very long time. Richard III's cortege made its way slowly around Leicestershire before finally arriving in Leicester. There, crowds were gathering...it's estimated that 35,000 people were in the city itself.

The sun shone, there was such a happy atmosphere as people watched the progress of the procession on big outdoor television screens and on a corner of Jubilee Square, Morris dancers stamped their feet, clicked their sticks to music which would have sounded so familiar to King Richard III.

Outside Leicester Cathedral, the crowds waited patiently, many clutching white roses for Richard

While Mabon the police dog did a last minute sweep of the  Cathedral Gardens

It was time for me to put on my lanyard and walk into the cathedral for the service of Compline with the rest of the invited guests.

Once in the Cathedral, I saw Simon Dixon who is the Special Collections Manager at the University of Leicester...he was in charge of the Bible which was later placed on Richard's coffin.

This is no ordinary bible. It a Latin Vulgate bible printed in 1481 during Richard III's lifetime. At the time of Richard's reign though, no Bible had been printed in England,- this one was printed by Johannes Amerbach in Basle, Switzerland.

It is beautiful ....




It was then time to sit and wait  for the service to begin, to admire the Cathedral ,which I see so often, all dressed up, to watch the lights flicker on the polished brass and wood, to chat to my neighbours sitting next to me, and to have a look at what form the service would take.

 Suddenly there a hush, all we could hear was the whirring of a helicopter overhead, and the sound of horses hooves outside the cathedral

We all stood as the Tower Bell began to ring. The coffin was led into Cathedral by servers and clergy including the Very Reverend David Monteith, the Dean of Leicester, His Eminence Cardinal Vincent Nichols , Archbishop of Westminster and the Right Reverend Tim Stephens, Bishop of Leicester.


I was positioned near to the entrance so the King's coffin passed within touching distance. It was a surreal moment, being aware of being so close to the mortal remains of  a King slain on the battlefield five hundred and thirty years ago and to be surrounded by the strong  scent of incense.

The service itself was memorable ,with the soothing ritual of Compline and the cathedral being packed with everyone from royalty and descendants of peers of the realm who fought at the Battle of Bosworth  to members of the public from all over the world .

 There was genuine emotion and a sense of a unique occasion, and above all there was the mediaeval and renaissance music from the organist Simon Headley, the Leicester Cathedral Choir and the Leicester Cathedral Chamber Choir. It was spellbinding as their voices rose to the rafters of the cathedral, especially during The Motet.

The hairs on the back of my neck tingled as I listened to this haunting, moving work which was composed for the memorial service of John F.Kennedy using the words of Prudentius who lived in the fifth century.

At the end of the service, I had to hurry back to the real world, to work. To interview people at the service, to interview the remarkable Pete Hobson who had been in charge of the whole Richard III project. He couldn't stop smiling. "Are those smiles of joy or relief that everything went so well?" I asked. "Both!" he replied with another huge grin.

Then it was back to the BBC studios, a hop, skip and a jump away from the Cathedral, to go on air describing what I'd seen and to edit some interviews to be used later that night and the following day.

And on leaving work, my friend Victoria Hicks, who is a television journalist for BBC East Midlands Today, and I walked back into the Cathedral Gardens just to stand for a while and reflect on the day, and to have a photo with Richard III's statue....

And for a final look at the Cathedral in the quiet of the night.

What a day. What a wonderful day.

A day in the land of King Richard III

News of King Richard III continues to dominate in the city of Leicester. Plans are well underway for his reburial in the Cathedral next Spring, and his statue, which used to be in Castle Gardens, has been moved, cleaned and re situated between the Cathedral and the brand spanking new King Richard III centre which officially opens today.

 





On Tuesday though there was a press preview day, and at 8.55 am I was there live on air waiting to go in. Just before the stroke of 9am , I was invited in - the first journalist to enter the building.

 

 



The centre , which has cost £4.5 million , stands on the site of the mediaeval friary of the Grey Friars where the king's remains were buried over five hundred years ago. It's housed in the old Alderman Newton's School, which was then taken over by the Leicester Grammar School. It's a beautiful Victorian Gothic building which has been transformed.

So, I went in and during the morning, walked and talked my way through the centre in a thirty minute outside broadcast .

21st century technology is used to tell  the story of  our  mediaeval King's life and times in the War of the Roses.....

And the throne looked so inviting, I just had to sit on it for a while.....

Animations and displays tell the story about the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, where Richard became the last King of England to be killed in battle.



On the first floor, there's the incredible story of the most exciting archaeological find in recent years, which used modern science and technology to identify the bones of Richard III. It seemed surreal to be walking through the exhibits and photographs of the dig, which I visited  so recently here on display.

I interviewed Caroline Wilkinson from the University of Dundee who had come down from Scotland to visit the centre..she recreated the incredibly detailed facial reconstruction of Richard from his skeleton, which looks so remarkably like portraits of Richard.

Here she is on the left with Sarah Levitt, Head of Leicester Arts and Museums.



 

And one thing, I felt compelled to do, was take a selfie with Richard III himself.

 

 

 

I also interviewed Richard Buckley , Director of the University of Leicester's Archeological Services who led the search for Richard. He really is the most modest and self deprecating of men and always a pleasure to talk to. 

And on display was an amazing 3D replica of the bones of Richard III , created by Loughbrough University.
















Dr Turi King was also there for the preview....she's the University of Leicester geneticist who  with her background both in archaeology and genetics, was approached in the very early stages of the dig. She was asked if the skeletal remains of a “good candidate” to be Richard III were to be found, would she be interested in overseeing the DNA analysis? Her answer was yes, and the rest is history!

And there was a fascinating computer generated animation which was developed by Steffan Davies and Jonathan Gration from de Montfort University. which shows a digital reconstruction of Grey Friars Church, where Richard was buried and his remains discovered, and the now-lost original tomb, which marked the grave.

 

Meanwhile, back on the ground floor , is the actual site where Richard was found. Instead of being outside  in the elements,  an indoor space has been created to protect the site and where visitors can sit in quiet contemplation

 

 

 





 

 

The architect who's done so well to create this centre yet sympathetically restore the Victorian building is Paul East

 

 

 

At the end of the tour, there's a chance to buy all things Richardian. Books about him, pens, mugs, you name it, it's there and all ready to buy.

But outside ,workmen were still building a wall at the back of the centre - I do hope they finished it before today!

 So, by now the new King Richard III Centre will be open and filled with hundreds of  people. It's well worth a visit, and as I left the centre on Tuesday, I was so sorry that my American Aunt Avril and cousin Melinda were still in Leicester to see it for themselves. they were here  only a few weeks ago., and would have loved it. 

Back in the land of Richard III

Remember this scene?

Wednesday 12th September 2012...the scene in the Guildhall in Leicester as the archaeology team from the University of Leicester announced the discovery of a skeleton at the Greyfriars dig.

I can still oh so vividly recall the delicious tingle as I heard the evidence so far about their find.

You can see the back of my head in shot on the left hand side ...it looks as if the TV camera is resting on my shoulder....

Well, since then , millions of words have been written about the discovery of Richard III in newspapers and journals across the world, but I'm pleased to say that the two leading archaeologists involved have now written a book about the startling series of events before and after the discovery.

Their book "Richard III, the King under the Car Park" was launched two weeks ago yesterday at the University of Leicester, and books were literally being grabbed off the tables , money being thrown at the university bookshop sales and assistants, and the authors must have been getting cramp from all the copies they were signing.

One of the authors is the unassuming Mathew Morris, I remember meeting him first thing in the morning at the dig  the day the first announcement was made. I was with the radio car doing live broadcasts, he was quietly checking the site...and there was a security guard. Just the three of us...and it really was the calm before the storm...

 

It was great to see Mathew last Friday, enjoying the drinks and the canapés, yet finding time to talk to everyone.

 

 

And of course Richard Buckley was there too...the project director and lead archaeologist for the Greyfriars project, as well as being the co director of the University of Leicester Archaeological Services team. I can't remember how many times I've interviewed Richard, yet he always finds something fresh and interesting to say and he still hasn't lost a  genuine sense of wonder about the whole discovery.

 

 

And here's the book!

 

What I like about this is the way both Mathew and Richard have managed to straddle the difficulty of producing a book which satisfies their peers and yet makes this archaeological find so accessible to everyone. At a very affordable price and published by the University of Leicester, it's the first to tell the story from those who actually found the King, sharing  what happened at the dig, the mood there, and putting the find into context with mediaeval Leicester.

Luckily I managed to fight off others and buy some copies from a quickly dwindling pile on the night and get them signed.

Meanwhile in other Richard III news, the University of Leicester has received royal recognition for the excellence of the work on the discovery of the King, with the award of the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education. 

 

And there's more good news....yesterday,  the University of Leicester was also awarded "Research Project of the Year" at this year's Times Higher Education Awards for it's work on the discovery of Richard III.

 

 

But, and here's a big but, everything is not hunky dory in Richard III land here in Leicester. The legal battle over where his remains should be buried was adjourned at the High Court on Wednesday.

It's all getting very complicated. A judicial review will now judge whether the procedure which led to his bones being excavated here in the city was done correctly .

Before the dig even began, a licence to carry out the dig, issued by the Ministry of Justice, gave the authority to decide where to rebury the king to the university.

The latest hoo ha  still involves the Plantaganet Alliance...whose members want Richard buried in York Minister, and who are challenging the Justice Secretary's decision not to consult further before granting a licence to the University of Leicester to excavate the King's remains.

 They were given permission to bring  judicial review proceedings against both the Justice Secretary and the University of Leicester a while back by a High Court judge.....but now an adjournment has been declared so that the Leicester City Council can play a role too in the decision regarding what happens to the remains. (It was in their car park that the King was found.)

Well, I did warn you it was getting very complicated and long winded and it looks as if this is one story which just keeps running.

Meanwhile, this song has been running through my head as I've been writing this.....Finders Keepers by the Chairman of the Board from 1973 ....

And as far as I and thousands of other people, in this city and beyond, are concerned, Richard was found here, and should be kept here....

 

 

 

 

A day of spitting feathers - more about Richard III

I'm spitting feathers today. Really.

But if you don't live in the UK, you may wonder what I'm talking about. Well it's a saying which has two meanings.  It can mean I'm very  thirsty -a metaphor for my  mouth being so dry, it feels like it's full of feathers.
There's another meaning too....we also say it when we're angry -like being so angry I'm foaming at the mouth. So which of those am I today?  Let's put it this way , I don't want a glass of water...

Why?  It's all about the King who was found in a car park..

 I've found out that distant relatives of Richard III have been granted permission for a judicial review of the decision to rebury the king's remains here in Leicester.

The Plantagenet Alliance, which includes fifteen of his relatives, want his body to be buried in York, saying it was the King's wish. So  they've  launched a legal challenge to the decision made by the Ministry of Justice that The University of Leicester could decide where Richard's remains  would be buried.

Now, Mr Justice Cave has granted Judicial Review proceedings against the Secretary of State for Justice and the University of Leicester .

I can't believe it! It all began nearly a year ago....and I've been following the story both here on the blog...and as a BBC reporter working a mere two minute walk away from where King Richard III was found...see below

http://thinkingofthedays.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/richard-iii-days-of-hype-and-hope.html

http://thinkingofthedays.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=richard+III
http://thinkingofthedays.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/more-days-of-richard-iii-mania.html,

In February, the remains which had been found a Leicester car park were  confirmed as Richard's  by a team from the University of Leicester, led by Richard Buckley.

Now before the dig even began, a licence to carry out the dig, issued by the Ministry of Justice, gave the authority to decide where to rebury the king to the university. Quite rightly, in many people's opinion, it was felt appropriate that the King should be reburied in the cathedral just opposite where he had lay for nearly 500 years.

And where he has been remembered all over the city

In Castle Park Park Gardens, where you can smell where his statue stands before you see it....his statue is surrounded by the heady scent of nearly a hundred white roses....

 So, it seemed as if the matter were sorted....already thousands have come to Leicester, to the city where he set off on his last journey to the Battle of Bosworth, to see his resting place under the car park, to visit the temporary exhibition telling the story of who he was, and the now world wide famous archaeological dig to find him....

Leicester City Council's plans to build a £4 million  visitor centre are already well advanced and Leicester cathedral has already began a £1 million project to house the tomb of Richard III in time for his re-interment there next May. A  "significant space" is being created with a new floor, lighting and stained glass windows.

So what now? Who knows...but today the judge has said  the resting place of an anointed king is was a matter of "general public importance and touches on Sovereign, State and Church.".


So now it would seem there'll be a full High Court Hearing. I can imagine the urgent talks being held right now. Talks between passionate people  at Leicester City Council , Leicester Cathedral and the University of Leicester , on the legacy that the discovery of King Richard III has brought to all of us here in Leicestershire...and what it will mean if we lose the King.

I bet they're spitting feathers too...and when I say that, I wouldn't have thought that  they're all clamouring for a cup of tea ....

 

Today's track....well, here's Depeche Mode and "Wrong"...

 

 

More days of Richard III mania

Well it's been a busy couple of weeks ...who would have thought that Leicester would be the focus of the world's media for days?

Yes, those bones were those of King Richard III!  It's been such an exciting time for true Ricardians everywhere around the globe, and millions watched the channel 4 documentary about the search for the King.

On the night it was broadcast I was at work in the newsroom reading bulletins every hour on the hour. It was busy so was unaware that I was in the documentary too. But suddenly there were twitter and facebook messages saying I can hear you....and I've just seen you.

Of course the following day I watched..and yes, two pieces of audio were used from the day I was broadcasting from the car park where Richard was found....and two shots of me in the press conference - looking slightly gormless I have to say...

So, nothing to get excited about there...but there's been exciting developments since. Channel 4 have already commisssioned a second documentary about the King  after a consolidated audience of 4.9m - and it's Channel 4's highest rating show of 2013 to date.

We've also seen a fight between two cities over Richard. The City of York laid claim to the King, saying his bones should be interred there ...he was from Yorkshire. As you can imagine that hasn't gone down well here in Leicester. Yet despite the fact the Ministry of Justice licence to allow the original excavation states the legal right of the University of Leicester and Leicester City Council to choose the site of interment, York has continued to press its claim.

As if that wasn't enough excitement , a brand new exhibition opened in the mediaeval Guildhall ten days ago chronicling the search for Richard III and detailing the proof that the body found really was his.

There's some great touchscreen interactives in the exhibition and there's a model of King Richard's skull, made from the CT scan of the skeleton made at Leicester Royal Infirmary and 3D printed using a technique called laser sintering.It's been made by bods from Loughborough University (where I studied)

There's also some rather lovely floor tiles plus a section of carved stone frieze from the wall of the Grey Friars church. Hats off indeed to Laura Hadland,  a senior curator at Leicester City Council and her team who have worked around the clock to get this exhibition up and ready for action in such a breathtakingly short space of time.

When I say this exhibition is popular, there's been queues for days to see this exhibition. But do go...it's free to get into with fascinating glimpses of what's been the most thrilling archaeological finds for many years. Opening times vary, so do check with the Guildhall online before turning up.

 Meanwhile the Richard III Society have unveiled their design for Richard's tomb.

Many like the design but Leicester Cathedral is starting it's own preparation for the interment of King Richard III inside the Cathedral in a place of honour.. A date has been set - 12^th March - when the Architects brief will be agreed by the Cathedral Chapter, with whom the decision about a final memorial legally lies. This brief will then be made public.

 So we will wait and see what's decided...but the tomb must be in harmony with its surroundings within the cathedral. Whatever the design though, visitor numbers to Leicester Cathedral will go through the roof.

The BBC studios are within spitting distance of the cathedral and the guildhall, a stone's throw from the car park where Richard III was found, and I can't remember ever seeing so many people milling around here in the mediaeval heart of Leicester. This historic discovery has suddenly ignited a passion for our past....and long may it continue.

Today's track is slightly different to usual and much longer .....but do have a listen. It's a recording of a special concert held a week ago at the University of Leicester, where a group of historical music performers presented a musical biography of Richard III's life, of music from 1452 to 1485.

 

Thorley, Peter

Issued by University of Leicester Press Office Issue: 14 February 2013 Listen to Richard III’s life through music Recorder trio TritonE perform a musical biography of Richard III’s life at the University of Leicester A recording of the concert is available

Thu 14/02

The group are TritonE - a professional recorder trio which specialises in the performance of historical music.

 

According to Professor Lin Foxhall, Head of the School of Archaeology and Ancient History, at the University of leicester who was so heavily involved in the search for for Richard III,  “This concert offers another perspective on the life and times of Richard III, presenting the sound world in which he lived."

So why not have a listen and transport yourself back to the fifteenth century? 
 

http://soundcloud.com/university-of-leicester/the-search-for-king-richard-1

 

The day they found King Richard III

A week ago today I was up early ...at 4.30am to be precise. Up early to cover a story which has captured the imagination of the world's press......and at the centre of the story, a location two minutes walk away from the BBC studios.

That's why I was in all alone in a car park at 6.45am,  radio car mast up, raring to go on a story which has made my heart sing. Was the body of poor, much maligned Richard III really found under a car park owned by Leicester City Council?

 

 

At that stage, we didn't know...the University of Leicester had issued a press release saying human remains had been found at the archeological dig hunting for the body of the King, and that there would be a press conference at 11am.

So for my first four pieces on air, all I could do was talk about the dig, describe the three trenches that had been dug by archaeologists,

 

 

 

give a potted history about the King, his last battle, and his death, and reiterate that the remains found could be his.

 

But for the University to hold such a press conference, there had to be some real news, and I was so keen to find out. After eight, I interviewed Sir Peter Soulsby, the City Mayor of Leicester live on air...and all the time we spoke he was grinning from ear to ear with a barely suppressed excitement. He still wouldn't tell me whether it was Richard III 's body that had been found of course, but by now, I couldn't wait for 11am.

Meanwhile, it was still quiet in the car park....Matthew Morris, the archaeologist who was there when they found the skeleton, and a few of his team were there at 8am...but it was the lull before the storm.

 

Here's the exact spot where the remains were found

 

 

By half past ten, the beautiful, medieval Guildhall in Leicester was heaving with people, lights, cameras. Most of the daily newspapers had sent down reporters, and TV camera crews were there from all the major news networks here in the UK and from Canada too..

A panel of experts, from the University of Leicester, led by Richard Buckley, were on stage to give us the news we had all been waiting for......that the remains appeared to be of an adult male.

 

The remains were found in the choir of the Franciscan friary, and the Choir was the area reported in the historical record as the burial place of King Richard III.

There was a pause....then we were told the skeleton appeared to have suffered significant perimortem trauma to the skull consistent with an injury received in battle, and a bladed implement appeared to have cleaved part of the rear of the skull.

Notice, at this stage, we were getting a lot of "appeared to", but we were already on the edge of our seats. But Philippa Langley, an author, screenwriter, and a member of the Richard III Society, told us, in breathy and emotional tones, that a ballad written just after the Battle of Bosworth claimed that Richard III died after being hit on the head with a poleaxe.

 

We were also informed that a barbed iron arrowhead was found between the vertebrae of the skeleton’s upper back.

And then came the killer line....the skeleton found in the Choir area had spinal abnormalities and the individual would have had severe scoliosis – which is a form of spinal curvature. This would have made his right shoulder appear visibly higher than his left shoulder. This was consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance.

 

There were audible intakes of breath around the Guildhall, and the panel was grinning. However, the experts are still hedging their bets, saying that they cannot confirm anything until the results of DNA tests.

A direct descendent of Richard III has been found...Michael Ibsen is a seventeenth-generation descendent through the female line.....and his DNA tests will be compared to those of the body found under the car park.

 

I really can't wait to hear the results.

 

So after the press conference, it was back to the dig in the car park to interview Richard Buckley who is heading the dig and archeologist Matthew Morrison. ...which by now was crowded with people, camera crews, the City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby and a couple of his bodyguards..

 

 

 

What a genuinely exciting day it was .....with a 500-year-old mystery that is within a whisker of being solved.

Mind you, there's a more modern mystery connected with the find. Since the discovery of the body, there's a new account on twitter @richard_third

 

I don't know who's writing it, but the tweets are hilarious,  topical and make my day in a surreal sort of way.

 

 

There's another question that is already being debated - IF the body IS that of Richard III where should his body be reburied? Many say he should stay here in Leicester...in the Cathedral, a stone's throw away. But after 527 years in Leicester, could it be that Richard III could finally leave the city?