What do Richard III's remains reveal about the king?

[Buster's Uncle]

What do Richard III's remains reveal about the king?
CBS News/March 7, 2015, 11:23 PM



On March 26, 530 years after his death, King Richard III will be buried for a second time. The bones of the English monarch were found in 2012 under what is now a parking lot in England. Charlie D'Agata reports on the developments in the king's story.

It was with unbridled passion that archaeologists unearthed Britain's most exciting find in modern times.

A new video was just released of the historic moment archaeologists discovered the remains of Richard III, buried beneath a parking lot in northern England.

A lot's happened since the resurrection back in 2012. But first, how did the former king of England end up hands tied in a shallow grave in Leicester?

Richard had been killed in battle five centuries ago outside of town. His story was preserved by Shakespeare, and forensic teams have since confirmed the king died of eight to 10 blows to the head.

Scientists also found evidence of what's been described as "humiliation injuries."

The twisted skeleton reinforced the notion that Richard suffered from scoliosis, curvature of the spine. DNA evidence sealed the deal.

"We've calculated a probability of these being the remains of Richard III at their most conservative being 99.999 percent," the University of Leicester's Dr. Turk King said.

Analysis further established what he looked like, blue eyes and blonde hair that darkened as he got older.

But that DNA dug up another skeleton, the kind found in closets. A break in the DNA of male descendants was discovered.

"The break, however, does raise other questions, more of a historical nature than is this skeleton Richard," University of Leicester's professor Kevin Schurer said.

Questions like whether an adulterous affair had in fact broken the royal line of succession. This blurs the bloodlines through the royal family, right down to little Prince George.

Royal ancestry aside, all that remains is what to do with the king's remains.

There is a visitor center where he used to lie, but Richard is to have a proper burial at the Leicester Cathedral with a full funeral procession.
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