Richard’s relatives seek legal review over burial

The relatives, who want the Yorkist king’s final resting place to be in York, are planning a legal challenge to decisions which authorised the exhumation and allowed Leicester University to decide where he should be laid to rest.

Last autumn, the Ministry of Justice gave archaeologists from the university permission to unearth remains from beneath a council car park in Leicester, which were later found to be those of the king.

The university was given discretion to decide where the monarch should be reburied and it has made it clear it plans to have Richard’s remains re-interred in Leicester Cathedral.

However, the Plantagenet Alliance, spearheaded by 15 of Richard III’s descendants, is set to challenge the decision in the courts. The campaigners are being advised by Yorkshire law firm Gordons.

Stephen Nicolay, a 16th great nephew of the monarch, said last night he hoped the legal team would “help us significantly” in the quest to have the last Yorkist king’s remains buried in York.

An e-petition on the direct.gov.uk website, calling for Richard III’s remains to be re-interred in York, has so far been signed by nearly 26,000 people.