Men dressed as medieval knights pose for pictures in Leicester at a site believed to hold the skeleton of medieval king Richard III. Source: AFP
THE fate of England's last king to be killed in battle will be decided this weekend when scholars gather to determine whether a skeleton found buried under a council car park is that of King Richard III.
In September, the Leicester City Council social services car park was dug up on a hunch by a historical society that the king's body was buried there, in what was a friary, 500 years ago after he died in battle.
A body was found and months of painstaking DNA tests are expected to show it is more than likely the skeleton found is that of the king. Scholars are gathering at Leicester to study the evidence gathered for a conclusive ruling which is to be announced Monday.
But indications are already strong thanks partly to Shakespeare.
The playwright described the king, who ruled in 1485, as having a hunchback and being killed with a cleave to the head and arrow in the side.
Archaelogists and local officials announce the possible discovery of the skeleton of Richard III at Leicester. AFP PHOTO / Gavin Fogg
The skeleton found was confirmed to have had a curvature of the spine and a battle wound to the skull.
If the highly anticipated announcement is correct, history could be rewritten, with calls to conduct further tests on two bodies buried at Westminster Abbey.
King Richard has been much reviled throughout history courtesy of Shakespeare, with claims he killed his brother and his brother's two sons, to take the throne.
The two sons were thrown in the Tower of London shortly before Richard became king; bones of children found in 1674 thought to belong to the two boy princes were buried in the Abbey with an inscription of their sarcophagus claiming they were murdered by Richard the Usurper.
Archaeologist Mathew Morris of the University of Leicester at the likely site of the grave of Richard III. AFP PHOTO / Gavin Fogg
But if the bones from the Leicester carpark are Richard's then DNA tests on the children's bones may also support some theories they did not belong to the princes and at least open the debate as to whether he was a murderous king at all.
Richard died during the battle of Bosworth in the War of the Roses, between the House of Lancaster and the House York.
If shown to be the king, the skeleton is expected to be buried at Leicester Cathedral although some are calling for him to be buried alongside other monarchs at Westminster.
The key players in the plot, clockwise from top left, King Richard III; the princes in the tower he is supposed to have killed, Edward V and Richard, Duke of York; the Tudor who took the crown, Henry VII; Sir Thomas More and William Shakespeare, who both wrote of the scandal; and Queen Elizabeth II who has refused genetic testing on what are thought to be the princes' bones.
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