A PHOTO of the funeral pall that draped the coffin of Richard III when his remains were buried in Leicester Cathedral, in 2015, has been included in a special exhibition celebrating 30 years of the National Lottery and the projects that it has funded.
The artist Thomas Duke was commissioned to capture “game-changing” moments for each of the 30 years. Mr Duke is known for his project @steppingthroughfilm, in which he tracks down film locations and holds up a photograph, or film still, aligning it perfectly with the location.
The anniversary of the National Lottery fell on Tuesday. Through its Good Causes programme, £50 billion has been raised since it was launched in 1994 by Sir John Major — a moment featured in the exhibition in the National Portrait Gallery.
Another of these moments is the burial at Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015 of Richard III’s remains — discovered beneath a Leicester car park the previous year. The service was attended by the Royal Family, and broadcast to a global audience of 350 million (News, 27 March 2015). National Lottery Funding contributed to the funeral pall that draped Richard III’s coffin, the creation of a new visitor exhibition centre at the Cathedral, and restoration projects for the Cathedral and historic buildings near by.
Among the moments in the exhibition include the opening of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, in 1997; Baroness Grey-Thompson winning two gold medals at the 2005 Paralympic World Cup in Manchester; street parties to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, in 2012; Bletchley Park reopening in 2015 after a major restoration; and Liverpool hosting the Eurovision Song Contest last year.
The Dean of Leicester, the Very Revd Karen Rooms, said on Friday: “We are thrilled to be included as one of the 30 iconic moments as the National celebrates three decades of its support for so many important initiatives. We are indebted to the Lottery both for its support in 2015, and the funding we have been given for our new Heritage and Learning Centre, which will be opening next spring.”
Baroness Twycross, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, said that the birthday “marks a remarkable legacy of building resilient, inclusive, and healthier communities across the UK”.