They've just decided Richard III won't be buried in York

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

You have to look at this document:

www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/richard-3rd-judgment-.pdf

It is cracking me up, properly. There's something so funny about seeing it all set out like that.

Just seen Tom Holland on twitter suggest Fotheringhay, the church where many York royals were buried. What do you think?

Good link:

www.le.ac.uk/richardiii/science/extractionofdna.html

I am reading philippa's book about the dig now. Interesting how much more there was than was shown on TV!

I am coming to this very late and this has probably already been discussed but can I ask, why does so much of the coverage talk about his descendants? I thought his only legitimate son died as a child and his probable illegitimate children died childless? Sure his parents might have left a lot of descendants (my next door neighbour for one!) but he didn't did he?

Because it was a fantastic piece of genealogy to trace matrilineal descendants for 500 years; and it was their DNA that added extra confirmation to the identification (along with carbon dating and the pattern of battle wounds, plus the location)

Yes I can see that it was great research on the DNA connection to his mother but all the talk on the news of Benedict Cumberbatch etc being RIII's descendants isn't actually accurate is it? They are all 2nd or 3rd cousins (many times removed) which makes the connection rather more tenuous and those claiming a special connection (e.g. those who brought the judicial review over the decision not to bury him in York) seems to be making rather a lot over quite a distant link.

I suspect we are all related to him! Jon snow was as well.

The two on the Telly were direct descendants of his sister so they are great x17 niece/nephew.

Tess I thought it would be incorrect to call the two relatives descendents as Channel 4 repeatedly did. They share descent down the mothers' line and so share mitochondrial DNA.

Then again words do change their meanings or have different usage in universities so I was left a bit unsure.

I would like to think I'm not the least bit of Norman descent and would be quite sad to find I did share the DNA!

Yes, I think "descendants of his sister/mother/cousin" or whatever would have been more accurate.