From Dr Tim Hudson
Sir, — Having made a considerable detour to see Richard III’s tomb in Leicester Cathedral on Friday 4 September, I was surprised to find the building closed for three hours in the middle of the day.
The reason was a wedding — a posh one, to judge from the turn-out of the stewards and the fact that it had taken 90 minutes to prepare the building.
Rightly, in my view, Leicester was able to beat off York Minster’s challenge to house King Richard’s remains. But as a result, and after all the publicity, surely the cathedral has incurred a duty to provide the best possible access to them.
Is it cynical to suggest a mercenary reason for the closure? The cathedral doesn’t charge for entry, but a “wedding package” offered on its website costs the large sum of £1438. A dilemma, no doubt.
I can’t help feeling that York, with much longer experience of the realities of modern-day tourism, would have been more accommodating.
TIM HUDSON
7 Hawthorn Close
Chichester PO19 3DZ