Richard III - Post 2 of 10

An Eclipse of the Sun:

The day that Richard III’s wife, Queen Anne, died, there was an eclipse of the sun visible across England. People thought that this was a bad omen.

Tomorrow, Friday 20^th March, there will be an eclipse of the sun visible throughout the UK. There are still people who think that this is a bad omen.

What do you think?

So How Did a King Get to be Under a Car Park?

A section of Alice Povey's brilliant illustration from my book depicting the car park before the dig.

This is a potted version of how I explain it on my school visits. I’ve omitted all the over-acting and gesticulations because they really don’t translate well onto the screen!

King Richard marched with his army to head off Henry Tudor. They met up near Leicester at Bosworth Field.

When Richard was killed Henry, now King Henry VII, ordered his body to be brought into Leicester and put on display for three days.

Friars from the Grey Friars took his body down and removed it to the choir in their church, giving him a hasty, but I’d like to think, respectful burial.

King Henry VIII fell out with the Pope and sent his men to destroy all Monasteries and Friaries including Leicester’s Grey Friars.

An Alderman of Leicester had his house built where the friary had once stood and his garden covered the spot where Richard was buried.

The City Corporation bought the land and planned to build a Town Hall there but they never did.

They built offices and laid tarmac for a car park where the choir of the church had once been.

Many people believed, until a few years ago, the rumour that Richard’s bones had been dug up during a riot and thrown into the River Soar, but Philippa Langley knew otherwise, raised the money to organize an archaeological dig and the rest, as they say, will go down in history.

I then sit down and sign lots of The Children's Book of Richard III for the children. It's quite good fun really.