Reburial of Richard III faces delay over tomb

Richard’s remains, dug up under a council car park in Leicester, are due to be reinterred at the city’s cathedral, although a legal challenge by a group of his distant descendants who want him buried in York is going through the courts.

Proposals put forward by the cathedral to accommodate the tomb of the last Plantagenet monarch could have seen Richard laid to rest in the cathedral by the end of next summer.

But the Cathedral Fabrics Commission for England has deferred its response to the cathedral’s plans, putting that timetable in doubt, according to the dean.

In a statement, the cathedral said the commission had requested “more information on key aspects of the scheme” before it could respond.

The commission’s permission is required if a plan to rebuild part of the cathedral, accommodating the king’s tomb, can ever go ahead. The project would cost up to £1.3m, of which £96,000 will be spent on the tomb and vault.

The Very Rev David Monteith, Dean of Leicester, said the cathedral was disappointed by the commission’s decision but understood it was dealing with a major and complex application.

He said: “Leicester Cathedral recognises the complexity of the case the Cathedral Fabric Commission for England is having to deal with and therefore understands why, at this juncture, the commission failed to reach a verdict on our comprehensively-researched proposals for a tomb for King Richard III as part of a major reordering of the cathedral.”

Mr Monteith also said any final decisions must await the outcome of the Judicial Review determining where Richard is reinterred, adding “we fully respect that legal process”.

Richard, who reigned from 1483, was killed in the final battle of the bloody Wars of the Roses in 1485.