A HIGH COURT judge has granted distant relatives of Richard III
permission for a judicial review of the decision on where he should
be buried.
Mr Justice Haddon-Cave made an order on Thursday of last week,
after the Plantagenet Alliance - a group that includes 15 relatives
of Richard III - launched a legal challenge to the Ministry of
Justice's decision to allow the King's remains to be buried in
Leicester Cathedral (News, 19
July).
The judge said that the Secretary of State for Justice had
"failed to carry out any, or any proper consultation regarding the
re-internment of Richard III's remains" before issuing an
exhumation licence to the University of Leicester in September of
last year (
News, 14 September 2012). The Secretary of State had failed to
revisit the decision to grant the licence in February, after it was
confirmed that the remains were those of Richard III, and when
there was "growing concern . . . as to where they should be
reburied".
The judge went on: "The University of Leicester, as a
responsible public body, should not have begun making arrangements
for a re-interment of the remains of Richard III at Leicester
Cathedral, prior to an appropriate consultation being carried out.
. . It is ironic that the Wars of the Roses appear to be returning
whence they started. . . I would . . . urge the parties to avoid
embarking on the (legal) Wars of the Roses Part Two. In my view, it
would be unseemly, undignified, and unedifying to have a legal
tussle over these royal remains. This would not be appropriate, or
in the country's interests. . .
"I would strongly recommend that parties immediately consider
referring the fundamental question - as to where and how Richard
III is reburied - to an independent advisory panel made up of
suitable experts and Privy Councillors."
A statement from Leicester Cathedral, issued on Tuesday, said:
"We are an Interested Party in this process, and we look forward to
co-operating with all the parties. We are also considering our
response to the alternative ideas named by the judge in his
consideration."
The Dean of Leicester, the Very Revd David Monteith, said:
"Richard has lain in Leicester, just across the road, in the shadow
of our cathedral, for the past 500 years. So we believe that King
Richard's mortal remains should be reinterred here . . . in a
timely manner."
Leicester University said in a statement last Friday that it
believed that the Plantagenet Alliance's claim was "without merit,
and that this is the conclusion which the court is likely to
reach", once it had heard "detailed evidence".
It continued: "The university maintains that it is entirely
proper and fitting that the remains of Richard III, Duke of
Gloucester, be buried in the magnificent holy setting of Leicester
Cathedral, near where his remains had lain for centuries, and where
they were finally discovered as a result of what the court
described as 'the inspired, determined and meticulous work' of the
university and members of the Richard III Society."