Richard III: 10 years since remains of King found in Leicester city council car park

ITV News Central Leicester Correspondent Rajiv Popat reports on the 10th anniversary of the historic discovery

It's been 10 years since the remains of King Richard III were found underneath a car park in Leicester.

The legbone of King Richard III, who was killed in battle in 1485, was found by archaeologists in Leicester on 25 August 2012.

Richard III, born in 1452, was the last King to be killed in Battle and was treated by the University of Leicester as a historical missing persons case.

He was killed on 22 August 1485 fighting the army of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth, the last significant battle of the War of the Roses.

His body was taken to Greyfriars in Leicester, where it was buried in a crude grave in the friary church.

However, following the dissolution of the friary in 1538 and it's subsequent demolition, Richard's tomb was lost.

His death marked the end of the Plantagene dynasty and start of the Tudor one when Henry Tudor became King Henry VII.

The search for the lost King begins..

The search for King Richard III's body began in August 2012 led by the University's Archeology department in partnership with Leicester City Council.

On the very first day of the excavation, a human skeleton belonging to a man in his thirties was uncovered, showing signs of severe injury. The skeleton had several unusual features, including scoliosis - a severely curved spine.

After being exhumed, examination showed the man had probably been killed by a blow from a large blade which penetrated his skull.

The age of the bones at death matched Richard when he was killed - age 32. In addition, the remains were consistent with documented physical descriptions of the king.

Further DNA analysis comparing the remains with the DNA from 17th and 19th-generation descendants of Richard's sister, Anne of York were found to be a match.

Taking everything into account, the University of Leicester announced on 4 February 2013 that it had concluded beyond reasonable doubt that the skeleton was that of Richard III.

Richard was found on the 527th anniversary of his death. His remains were reburied at Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015.

What was Richard III best known for?

Richard III only served as King of England for two years, but his reign was one of the most historic and infamous.

He was vilified by Shakespeare's famous play 'Richard III' which discredits him as a ruthless tyrant, but modern scholars have suggested that Richard III was in actuality a successful leader.

His reputation of evil started primarily after his death, initiated by Tudor propaganda.

He is best known for being accused of the murders of two of his nephews, Edward and Richard.

When his older brother Edward IV died in 1483, his oldest son took the throne as Edward V, despite being only 12 years old at the time.

As his uncle, Richard III swiftly took control from his nephew and appointed himself as King's Lord Protector, which allowed him to run the government.

Richard waged a campaign to get the boy and his brother declared bastards, and proclaimed himself king.

The two boys were subsequently imprisoned in the Tower of London where they spent the rest of their days.

His nephews soon disappeared from sight and contemporaries came to believe that they were dead.

What was the War of the Roses?

Richard III was the last of a royal family called the House of Plantagenet that had ruled England for over 300 years.

The family had a lot of infighting where often brothers fought one another, as well as battles between fathers and sons'.

The War of the Roses began when Richard was three years of age.

It was between two different parts of the Plantagenets, the House of Lancaster (represented by the red rose) and the House of York (represented by the white rose) who were fighting to take the throne.

Why was Richard III overthrown?

Richard III had gained many enemies who felt he had betrayed his brother Edward IV and taken the throne from his nephews. The widow of his brother and mother of the princes in the tower, also wanted to get revenge on Richard III.

They convinced Henry Tudor, a wealthy nobleman and descendant of the House of Lancaster to fight to become King of England. He also married Edward IV's daughter to strengthen his claim.

This culminated in the Battle of Bosworth field where Richard III was eventually killed.

It also led to the dramatic end of the War of the Roses as Henry Tudor was from the House of Lancaster, and his wife was from the House of York, the families were able to reach peace after a difficult history.

The Tudor Rose has a mixture of red and white colours, to symbolise the coming together after the War of the Roses.

Henry Tudor became Henry VII and was king for more than 20 years.

What disability does Richard III have?

He is famously portrayed as having one shoulder larger than the other, and a stoop.

He was portrayed by Shakespeare as a hideous hunchback, but in actuality had suffered from scoliosis, or curvator of the spine.

This was one of the most distinguishing features about his remains when it was first discovered.