Leicester Cathedral

In 2015, some 530 years later, and three years after his remains were found beneath a city centre car park, Richard III made that same journey to Bosworth and back to Leicester, but this time it was his coffined remains, set upon a gun carriage, which invited silent reflection.

Processing through the crowd-lined streets to Leicester Cathedral, Richard’s remains were welcomed at a service of contemplation. This then heralded a three-day lying-in-repose period, attracting 20,000 pilgrims eager to pay their respects.

More crowds gathered outside on 26 March as an impeccable service of reinterment took place. The contrast with his first burial, conducted in haste at Greyfriar’s Friary, could not have been starker. The televised service, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, attracted over 600 million viewers, and so with this, the last English king to die in battle, was reinterred with the dignity befitting his status.

Today, visitors reflect on a man of deep faith, who as king introduced sweeping reforms and was committed to creating a fairer society. Woven through this narrative is the Richard of Shakespearean lore; the archetypal villain and murderous tyrant. So much to consider as visitors regard a strikingly modern tomb of Swaledale fossil stone, set atop a Kilkenny marble plinth and carved with the King’s motto – Loyaulté Me Lie – and a coat of arms delicately constructed from semi-precious stones.

In contrast to the modest tombstone, placed by Henry VII on Richard’s grave in 1495, this memorial is a poignant link to England’s most controversial medieval monarch, bringing to a close an incredible story just 100 metres from the site of his original burial.