Richard III deserves royal homecoming to York

I HAVE only ever been to Leicester twice in my life so I am not surprised that like many people I didn’t know Leicester had a cathedral. But what has that got to do with where we finally accord Richard III the honour he deserves, a proper ritualised burial for a former King of England?

The only connection Leicester has with Richard III is his destruction! That is surely not a good enough reason for now using his remains as a tourist attraction. Richard was Duke 
of York, as was his father before him.

If Richard cannot be interred at Westminster, which is his due, then York is the logical place. And no, I am not a Yorkshireman, just a Southerner, with a passion for English history, who has made it his home for over 50 years.

From: MJ Dickinson, Waters Walk, Bradford.

WHILE many reasons have, rightly, been made why the last Plantagenet king should be laid to rest in his own city, they have focussed on Richard’s paternal line. As part of the campaign to return the King, could I add that Richard’s mother was a Neville, as was his wife.

Cecily Neville was part of a great Northern family which had links through marriage to all the important families of the land, with its power base here.

Indeed one of the earliest references to Richard when he was just a boy is when he attended the installation of George Neville as Archbishop of York. Re-interring King Richard in York would put him among his family.

From: Eric Houlder, Carleton, Pontefract.

HAVING just learned that York Minster no longer wants Richard, would it not be a good idea to re-bury him where his father, Richard Duke of York and his brother Edmund Earl of Rutland were originally buried, 
in Pontefract?

Pontefract Castle was one of Richard’s favourite residences, and indeed he ruled the kingdom from here on more than one occasion. Moreover, he was very popular in the town and gave it a charter.