The crowd pleasing king

He's a star.  Richard III might have spent half a millennium as a pantomime villain with no tomb but suddenly everyone loves him. Around 70,000 people turned out to see his funeral procession in Leicestershire on Sunday and on the first day that Leicester Cathedral allowed people in to see his coffin over 5000 queued - some for up to four hours. Doors open soon for day two and already hundreds are waiting in Leicester for a glimpse.

Thousands have already queued to pay their respects to Richard III

(photo King Richard III in Leicester Instagram feed)

The king, who was killed at the Battle of Bosworth on August 22nd 1485 and was buried in Grey Friars in Leicester soon afterwards, has been without a tomb for over 500 years. Now, before his new one is even revealed, he is pulling crowds that many a modern celeb can only dream of.  There were people waiting before dawn broke for a chance to file past his coffin. Leicester Cathedral extended its opening hours and tweeted that it was sending tea and coffee out to those who stood patiently for so long on Monday.

Richard III, King of England 1483 - 1485 and royal star of 2015

There are three viewing periods today- 0900 to 1230, 1400 to 1700 and 1915 to 2100.  Thousands more are expected at the cathedral to pay their respects. And on Thursday even bigger crowds are due for the actual reinterrment which will be led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and attended by the Countess of Wessex and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.  Richard III, villain and vilified, is now the royal star of the year.