Odds improve on York re-burial for Richard III

The odds on Richard III being re-buried in York have been slashed after reports that some of the funding for the king’s tomb in Leicester Cathedral has been withdrawn.
By The Newsroom
Published 24th Sep 2013, 01:01 BST

The Yorkist king had been set to be laid to rest in Leicester before a legal challenge by a group of his distant relatives is calling for him to be buried in his home county.

Following the funding announcement the odds of him being laid to rest in York tumbled to just 5/4, from 2/1. Despite this, Leicester remain the odds-on favourites at 4/7 but drifting from 1/3.

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Alex Donohue of Ladbrokes said: “Leicester were looking certainties but the latest news has brought York firmly back into contention. With the dispute nowhere near settled we’re now offering long odds the remains end up somewhere else completely.”

The news came as a 500-year-old piece of a battle flag which flew on the field where King Richard III was slain is to be auctioned.

The red and gold cloth fragment, measuring 6.5in by 5.5in, was, according to auctioneers, a standard of the future Henry VII, during the pivotal and bloody fight between the houses of Lancaster and York at Bosworth Field in 1485.

Hansons Auctioneers said the piece has strong provenance and is expected to make between £3,000 and £5,000 when it goes under the hammer on Saturday.

Related topics:YorkLancaster