The mortal remains of King Richard III were re-interred in Leicester Cathedral on March 26, following five days of commemorations.

In 2012, the king's skeleton was discovered under a parking lot near the cathedral.

He had been hastily buried in 1485 by Franciscan friars after the Battle of Bosworth, in which he was killed.

More than half a century later, commemorations included an interfaith service of compline in the cathedral in Leicester on March 22.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster preached a homily.

The cardinal described King Richard as a "child of war" who spent much of his early life as a refugee before he seized power "on the battlefield and only by ruthless determination, strong alliances and a willingness to employ the use of force, at times with astonishing brutality".

On March 23, Cardinal Nichols celebrated a Requiem Mass for the repose of the soul of the king at the Holy Cross Priory of the Dominican order.

The cardinal wore the Westminster Vestment, a chasuble dating from the reign of Richard and which might have been seen by him during Masses at Westminster Abbey in London.

More 20,000 people filed past the king's coffin in Leicester Cathedral

Thousands also lined roads to witness the passage of the king's cortege.

The Archbishop of Canterbury led the prayers at the March 26 service.

Sophie, Countess of Wessex and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were among the guests there.

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, a distant relation of the king, read a poem by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.

Richard III has been vilified in history for his alleged complicity in the deaths of his nephews, whom he had imprisoned in the Tower of London.

But some scholars have contended that Richard's bad reputation was partially due to Tudor dynasty propagandists, including William Shakespeare.

Sources

• Catholic News Service
• New York Times
• The Guardian
• BBC
• Image: The Telegraph

The Requiem Mass in the traditional form will be at St Catherine's Church in Leyland, Lancashire, on March 26, the day when King Richard's remains will be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral.

It will be a Sung High Latin Mass with singers from the Laeta Cantoribus Choir, "in the style and manner of (Richard III's) day".

"The idea is that it will be closer to what he might have experienced in his own lifetime, as a pre-reformation Catholic," said St Catherine's parish priest Fr Simon Henry.

After the service, refreshments will be served, also in keeping with what King Richard might have expected in his lifetime.

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The only English monarch without a marked grave, his remains were found beneath a council car park in Leicester two years.

The remains of the Catholic king were identified using DNA analysis and other medical assessments.

The king, who reigned from 1483, was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, in the final battle of the War of the Roses.

Richard had been hastily buried in the grounds of a Franciscan friary, which was subsequently dissolved in Henry VIII's reign.

The reinterment service will take place at Leicester Cathedral on March 26, following a week of events in Leicestershire to honour Richard.

It will be invite-only, but will be broadcast live on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.

The remains will be transferred into a lead-lined coffin at Leicester University on March 22 and will travel by hearse to Bosworth for a day of events marking the king's final movements.

The journey will see the hearse travel through villages that were significant to the monarch's final days, ahead of a service in Bosworth.

The coffin will then return to Leicester Cathedral in the early evening where a service of reception will be attended by guests invited by David Monteith, the Dean of Leicester.

The monarch's remains will then lie in repose, his coffin covered with a commissioned pall, for three days to allow for members of the public to pay their respects.

The reinterment comes after a battle between the Plantagenet Alliance - set up by descendants of Richard's family who wanted him to be reinterred in York Minster as he was known as Richard of York - and Leicester organisations.

A UK court ruled earlier this year that Richard should be reinterred in Leicester - the city where he lost his life.

There had also been some commentators who argued Richard III should be given a Catholic funeral, as he was a Catholic and the Church of England in its present form did not exist at the time of his death.

Sources

• Sydney Morning Herald
• The Express
• Breitbart
• Image: BBC

Earlier this year, skeletal remains found beneath a car park in Leicester were confirmed as King Richard's. But since the find, a disagreement has surfaced about whether he should be buried in Leicester or York.

Dr John Ashdown-Hill says the king was "a very religious man" and would have wanted a Catholic burial.

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So argues Elena Curti, deputy editor of the London Tablet, following the news that archaeologists have confirmed the discovery of the king's missing remains under a car par in Leicester.

"The 'appropriate' rites would surely be a Catholic funeral with a full Requiem Mass, and only a Catholic church will do for Richard's tomb," she writes.

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