Relatives of King Richard III lose High Court bones battle

Richard the Third - the last King of the House of York WILL be buried in Leicester where his remains were found beneath a car park.

Richard's distant relatives - spearheaded by his 16th great niece - want his bones to return to York which they say is his spiritual home.

Today High Court judges ruled against them - but the relatives are now considering a further appeal. Jon Hill reports:

The lawyer who spearheaded the unsuccessful bid to have Government permission for Richard III’s remains to be reburied in Leicester overturned has called the decision "regrettable".

Matthew Howarth said:

Reacting to the High Court's decision to allow King Richard III's bones to be buried in

Leicester, York Outwood MP, Julian Sturdy said:

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has blasted Plantagenet Alliance, the group who fought to have Richard III buried in York, for wasting taxpayers money.

He said he was pleased with the High Court's decision to rebury the King's remains in Leicester, where they were found.

He added: "I am frustrated and angry that the Plantagenet Alliance - a group with tenuous claims to being relatives of Richard III - have taken up so much time and public money."

Descendants of the 'last medieval king of England' claim his last wish was to be buried at York Minster despite losing a High Court battle today.

The remains of the king, whose death in 1485 ended the Wars of the Roses, will be reburied in Leicester, where his remains were found in a car park in 2012.

It is currently unclear whether or not the Alliance will seek to appeal. Any further matters stemming from the judgment will be dealt with at a later date.

Mr Grayling angrily condemned the Alliance legal action, saying it had "taken up so much time and money".

Mr Grayling said: "I have been very clear from the start that the decision to grant an exhumation licence for Richard III was taken correctly and in line with the law.

"I am pleased the court has reached the same conclusion and comprehensively rejected all of the claimant's arguments.

"I am, however, frustrated and angry that the Plantagenet Alliance - a group with tenuous claims to being relatives of Richard III - have taken up so much time and public money.

"This case, brought by a shell company set up by the Alliance to avoid paying legal costs, is an example of exactly why the Government is bringing forward a package of reforms to the judicial review process."

Today three judges ruled that is where they should remain and it was "time for King Richard III to be given a dignified reburial, and finally laid to rest".

The judges rejected a bid by relatives who make up the Plantagenet Alliance for a ruling that Mr Grayling is under a legal duty to set up a wide-ranging public consultation exercise to decide where the king's final resting place should be.

Distant relatives of King Richard III have lost their High Court battle with Justice Secretary Chris Grayling over where the monarch's recently-discovered remains should be reburied.

The King's bones are likely to now be buried in Leicester, not York as they had hoped.