Bishop of Leicester praises Richard III discovery for becoming a nations story

The Right Reverend Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester has praised the discovery of Richard III as being a story that has gripped the nation in the speech he gave during the reinterment of Richard III on Thursday 26 March at Leicester Cathedral.

During the ceremony he said: 

"The triple mandate given to the Looking for Richard Project four years ago has broken open not just a car park but a nation’s story. 'From car park to Cathedral', the story has challenged the inventiveness of the world’s headline writers, reporters and story tellers.

"King Richard has stepped from the pages of history into the fullest glare of the world’s attention. The crowds who lined the processional route were captivated by an astonishing discovery, a brilliant forensic investigation and an intense public drama.

"The “Richard Effect” has revealed a deep connection between a global audience and this young King who bore his disability with courage and knew the pain of bereavement and loss close to his own heart. Many amongst the crowds who have thronged to see the casket came bearing their own burdens of grief; others came to contemplate the reality of their own mortality. All have confounded the sceptics by their respect for the remains of an anointed King and a baptised Christian whose lot it was to live and die at a turning point of our history."