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| Richard III funeral - live updates | Richard III funeral - live updates |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 11.00am GMT11:00 | |
| The church is already packed. It is standing room only for some of the late admitted media and arguments continue over at the accreditation desk. | |
| 10.59am GMT10:59 | |
| “A hearse a hearse, my kingdom for a hearse” to misquote Shakespeare who was largely responsible for the villainous reputation of Richard III, through the play taught to generations of schoolchildren. | |
| The Telegraph’s Tom Rowley writes that the service today, which he explains is not technically a funeral, is proof that Richard’s reputation has been redeemed somewhat. | |
| The groundlings would love it. Five centuries after the reputation of Richard III seemed shredded forever by Shakespeare, an unscripted epilogue will be staged today in Leicester Cathedral. | |
| Part solemn ritual, part medieval pageantry, the Queen’s Division Band will play as the coffin of England’s last medieval monarch is brought to its final resting place, 529 years after his death in battle. | |
| During a service attended by descendants of the king’s family, and the peers he fought at Bosworth on his final day, his coffin will be placed inside a tomb of stone quarried from the North Yorkshire estate he once owned. | |
| At times, the service, led by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, will look and sound like a state funeral. And yet it will be neither. Not a funeral, because he is thought to have been given one already, by the knights who buried him on the plot that later became a car park where his remains were discovered three years ago. Technically, then, it is a “service of reinterment”. | |
| 10.41am GMT10:41 | |
| Pauline Carroll in the white rose wreath, and Kim Sidwell, were both excavators at the car park in 2012. They didn’t get seats in the ballot and so came at 8am to get front row places opposite the cathedral. Sidwell said: | |
| Today feels a liitle sad - it’s the end of an extraordinary period in our lives. | |
| 10.33am GMT10:33 | |
| White roses, the symbol of the House of York, adorn the statue of Richard III outside the cathedral. which was part of a £2.5m regeneration project. | |
| The bronze figure, with a new, full-length sword, was restored, cleaned and polished before being installed at Cathedral Gardens, having previously been situated in Castle Gardens, further from where his body was found and from where it will be laid to rest. | |
| 10.25am GMT10:25 | 10.25am GMT10:25 |
| Local MP John Ashworth sums up the mood in Leicester today: | Local MP John Ashworth sums up the mood in Leicester today: |
| It might be wet but tremendous buzz about Leicester this morning ahead of the reinterment of Richard III #RichardReburied | It might be wet but tremendous buzz about Leicester this morning ahead of the reinterment of Richard III #RichardReburied |
| 10.23am GMT10:23 | 10.23am GMT10:23 |
| Rev Barry Hill, is distributing mints and lollipops to people going into the cathedral:. He said: | Rev Barry Hill, is distributing mints and lollipops to people going into the cathedral:. He said: |
| It’s not very dignity and honour but it might keep you going. | It’s not very dignity and honour but it might keep you going. |
| 10.18am GMT10:18 | 10.18am GMT10:18 |
| Here’s an extract from our preview piece: | Here’s an extract from our preview piece: |
| The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the bishop of Leicester, Tim Stevens, will preside over the ceremony, which will be attended by the Countess of Wessex, academics and archaeologists from Leicester and other universities, Phillipa Langley - whose unshakable belief that Richard would be found launched the project - local school children, veterans who have guarded the coffin, newly traced descendants of both sides at the battle of Bosworth Field in which Richard was killed, and members of the public who won their seats through a hugely oversubscribed public ballot. | The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the bishop of Leicester, Tim Stevens, will preside over the ceremony, which will be attended by the Countess of Wessex, academics and archaeologists from Leicester and other universities, Phillipa Langley - whose unshakable belief that Richard would be found launched the project - local school children, veterans who have guarded the coffin, newly traced descendants of both sides at the battle of Bosworth Field in which Richard was killed, and members of the public who won their seats through a hugely oversubscribed public ballot. |
| Thousands more will watch the live transmission on Channel 4, on giant screens of the sort usually set up for major sporting events. | Thousands more will watch the live transmission on Channel 4, on giant screens of the sort usually set up for major sporting events. |
| The word “cathedral” may conjure up images of the grandeur of St Paul’s or Westminster. St Martin’s in Leicester’is lovely, but small. In Richard’s day, when he was buried in a roughly dug hole smashed through the tiles of the choir of the Greyfriars church just 100 yards away, it was a comparitively modest parish church. | The word “cathedral” may conjure up images of the grandeur of St Paul’s or Westminster. St Martin’s in Leicester’is lovely, but small. In Richard’s day, when he was buried in a roughly dug hole smashed through the tiles of the choir of the Greyfriars church just 100 yards away, it was a comparitively modest parish church. |
| It only became a cathedral in the 20th century in a move that was intended as temporary until something grander could be built. It is, in the words of Rev Pete Hobson, whose personal and clerical life were upended when he became the project manager for the reinterment, “the second poorest cathedral in England”. | It only became a cathedral in the 20th century in a move that was intended as temporary until something grander could be built. It is, in the words of Rev Pete Hobson, whose personal and clerical life were upended when he became the project manager for the reinterment, “the second poorest cathedral in England”. |
| Contributions towards the £2.5m cost of the ceremonies, and the dramatic reordering of the building to make space for the tomb, have come from the diocese, the local authorities, members of the public and donations including £100,000 only last week from the Leicester Tigers football club. | Contributions towards the £2.5m cost of the ceremonies, and the dramatic reordering of the building to make space for the tomb, have come from the diocese, the local authorities, members of the public and donations including £100,000 only last week from the Leicester Tigers football club. |
| 10.13am GMT10:13 | 10.13am GMT10:13 |
| Summary | Summary |
| Welcome to live coverage of the funeral of Richard III, more than 500 years after his death. | Welcome to live coverage of the funeral of Richard III, more than 500 years after his death. |
| The reburial will be the culmination of a remarkable series of events, that have captured the imagination of thousands of people. | The reburial will be the culmination of a remarkable series of events, that have captured the imagination of thousands of people. |
| Richard of York was born on 2 October 1452 and died on 22 August 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth, the last English king to die in battle. | Richard of York was born on 2 October 1452 and died on 22 August 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth, the last English king to die in battle. |
| But the modern day story began in August 2012 when archeologists announced that they were searching for the remains of an English King under a car park in Leicester. The following month they struck gold. | But the modern day story began in August 2012 when archeologists announced that they were searching for the remains of an English King under a car park in Leicester. The following month they struck gold. |
| There followed legal wrangling between a group of his relatives and the Plantagenet Alliance over where he should be buried. | There followed legal wrangling between a group of his relatives and the Plantagenet Alliance over where he should be buried. |
| Today, he will finally be laid to rest at St Martin’s cathedral during a solemn ceremony presided over by the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the bishop of Leicester, Tim Stevens. | Today, he will finally be laid to rest at St Martin’s cathedral during a solemn ceremony presided over by the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the bishop of Leicester, Tim Stevens. |
| At 10.30am the procession from Leicester Guildhall to Leicester cathedral will begin. | At 10.30am the procession from Leicester Guildhall to Leicester cathedral will begin. |
| The service of reinterment will begin at 11.30am, during which the mortal remains of Richard III will be reinterred in Leicester Cathedral. | The service of reinterment will begin at 11.30am, during which the mortal remains of Richard III will be reinterred in Leicester Cathedral. |