Burying The White Queen's enemy

Richard III is big news at the moment.  The curly haired, Lord of the Rings-esque version of his story gracing the screens in The White Queen has made him into a small screen sensation but back in reality, plans for his funeral are taking shape.  The strangeness of burying this king of England five centuries after his death is becoming more real by the day.  Now the plans for his tomb in Leicester Cathedral have been unveiled and started up the row over his final resting place again.

 

The computer generated image of how the tomb of the last Plantagenent king of England, Richard III, will look if he is buried in Leicester Cathedral

 

The tomb is a stark reminder of his allegiance to the House of York, made in white and filled with symbolism.  The White Uncle would rest in a cream coloured tomb carved from Swaledale fossil limestone, mined in Yorkshire close to Middleham where he spent so much of his life and the place which gave his only son, Edward, his title.  His final resting place would be set on a huge white rose, on the floor of the cathedral.  The tomb will be topped by a deeply carved cross and bear his name, his dates and his personal symbol of a boar.  And around its edge, his motto Loyaulte me Lie. Its poignant meaning is 'Loyalty binds Me'.

 

 

Richard III, King of England, will be buried in state over five centuries after his death

 

It will certainly be a more ornate tomb than that of his brother, Edward IV, who's own burial place in St George's Chapel, Windsor is simple and discreet.  His final resting place is next to his wife, Elizabeth Woodville, and among many other kings of England. 

 

 

Windsor Castle, the final resting place of Edward IV

 

Just two things stand in the way of Richard's burial in Leicester.  Firstly, local planners have to give their approval as the whole project, which will cost £1.3 million in total, will also change the internal layout of the cathedral as well as its windows and lighting.  Secondly, a judicial review has been granted after the Plantagenet Alliance argued that the king would have wanted a burial in York and that the decision to bury him in Leicester was done without a full enough consultation.  A judge agreed to the review but warned against turning his final resting place into a second War of the Roses.  All this means that the plans to hold his funeral in May 2014 will probably be put back depending on the legal process.  But at some point in the next year or so, this controversial king will finally be given a royal funeral, five hundred years after his death.