May 23, 2014
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This Divisional Court judgment concerns the discovery, identification, and proposed re-interment of King Richard III’s remains unearthed at Leicester’s Grey Friars site by ULAS working with Philippa Langley and the Richard III Society. The Ministry of Justice licensed exhumation under the Burials Act 1857, with Leicester Cathedral identified for reburial. After DNA confirmed the remains as Richard III, The Plantagenet Alliance Limited—formed by Stephen Nicolay, a collateral descendant—challenged the licence and the intended reburial location, arguing for public consultation and reconsideration (preferably York Minster). The Court emphasized that the case was about administrative procedures, not selecting the burial site. Applying common law fairness, the Tameside duty, and statutory interpretation, the Court held that there is no general duty to consult, the Secretary of State acted rationally in not revisiting the licence, and the licence required re-interment at Leicester Cathedral unless amended. The University/ULAS owed no public law duty; the Council had no role. The judicial review was dismissed.
Judgment
This is the Judgment of the Court:
INTRODUCTION
Richard III was the last King of England to die on the battlefield. His death marked the end of the Middle Ages. He has remained a significant and controversial historical figure ever since. Tudor propagandists in the 16 th Century portrayed him in a negative light. Thomas More described Richard III as “little of stature, ill-featured of limbs, crook-backed… hard-favoured of image” . Polydore Vergil says Richard III was “deformed of body… one shoulder higher than the other” (Ross, Richard III, pp. xxii-xxiv). Shakespeare famously characterised Richard III as a ruthless and scheming Machiavellian villain, albeit a man of wit and courage. There was, however, a revival of interest in Richard III’s reign and character in the 20 th Century, championed by groups such as the Richard III Society.
The Richard III Society (“the Society”) was formed in 1924, over 400 years after his death. In 1980, HRH The Duke of Gloucester became its patron. The Royal Family is, however, not descended lineally from Richard III. No one is. The Society’s aim was to rehabilitate Richard III’s historical reputation, promulgating a more balanced picture of Richard III as a good and humane man who sought stability, peace, order and sound administration for a kingdom recently much troubled. The Society has an established reputation for its historical research. Its membership numbers several thousand around the world.
One of the Society’s leading members, Ms Philippa Langley, had a strong desire to find Richard III’s body. Initial research narrowed down the location of Richard III’s grave to an open-air municipal car-park in Leicester on the site of the Grey Friars Priory. The car park, owned by Leicester City Council (“the Council”) overlay part of the Priory’s former grounds.
Ms Langley worked in partnership with the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (“ULAS”). Necessary permissions for excavating the site and funding from, amongst others, Leicester University (“the University”) were obtained. On 24 th August 2012, human bone was discovered and digging stopped. On 3 rd September 2012, an exhumation licence was obtained from the Burials Team of the Ministry of Justice, which meant that the archaeological work could continue. On 5 th September 2012, two human skeletons were unearthed, one of which bore the unmistakeable signs of scoliosis and traumatic injury. Steps were taken to trace descendants of Richard III’s