This is Leicestershire -- The man whose DNA helped identify the remains of Richard III has backed Leicester in the battle of the bones. Michael Ibsen, Richard's 17th great-grandnephew, is the only publicly known person whose DNA has been matched to the king. He said he was "dismayed" at hearing of the High Court judgement which could see the remains of his distant relative moved from Leicester to York. He is also urging people to back an online petition calling for the remains to stay in Leicester and to "do everything you can to make sure you keep up with York's petitions and campaigns". Last Friday, Mr Justice Haddon-Cave agreed to hear a review of the Ministry of Justice exhumation licence which gave the University of Leicester the power to decide where the king's bones are reinterred. Canadian-born furniture maker Mr Ibsen, 56, who lives and works in London, said the remains belonged in Leicester, at the cathedral, in line with the licence. It was Mr Ibsen's DNA which proved the skeleton found at a city centre car park last August by university archaeologists was that of the last Plantagenet monarch. Mr Ibsen said: "At first I sat on the fence, but then I was very impressed with the way everything was handled in Leicester and the effort and passion everyone was putting into the dig and the reinterment." The Plantagenet Alliance – a group of 15 people claiming to be related to Richard III – launched a campaign to snatch the bones after the university positively identified the remains of the 500-year-old monarch in February. In May, it submitted an application to the High Court for a review of the exhumation licence. The challenge highlighted a number of points, but boiled down to one argument – that no public consultation was held about where the bones should be reinterred. The alliance's call for a review of the licence was granted. The university and Ministry of Justice, the co-defendants in the High Court case, will now have to decide whether to accept the judicial review, or alternatively work with the Plantagenet Alliance to appoint an independent panel of experts to look at the issue. The panel would examine both arguments about where the remains should be reburied and decide whether the exhumation licence remains valid, or a nationwide public consultation should be carried out. Mr Ibsen said: "The thing that dismayed me the most was the Ministry of Justice licence – a legal contract – has just been swept aside. "It's setting a dangerous precedent for the future – what's to stop people questioning all exhumation licences?" The Ministry of Justice licence will run out in August next year. A petition with about 28,000 signatures showing support for reinterring the remains at York Minster will close next month. A similar Leicester campaign has 8,000 backers. However, deputy registrar at the University of Leicester Richard Taylor said there had been no need for a show of strength until now. "Before this review, we were fairly confident with the legal process and didn't see any point in rallying people to get behind our project," he said. But he and Mr Ibsen said it was now time to get vocal and back Leicester as the final resting place of the king. "I was saying just the other day that if I was mayor I'd get my skates on," said Mr Ibsen. "This shouldn't be a popularity contest, but you've got to do everything you can to make sure you keep up with York's petitions and campaigns." A university spokesman said that despite the disappointment of last week's ruling, it remained "extremely confident" in the strength of its case, saying: "Richard has lain in the parish of St Martins for over more than 500 years." To sign the petition to keep the remains here, search for "Richard III Leicester" at: epetitions.direct.gov.uk
Reported by This is 1 day ago.
This is Leicestershire -- The man whose DNA helped identify the remains of Richard III has backed Leicester in the battle of the bones. Michael Ibsen, Richard's 17th great-grandnephew, is the only publicly known person whose DNA has been matched to the king. He said he was "dismayed" at hearing of the High Court judgement which could see the remains of his distant relative moved from Leicester to York. He is also urging people to back an online petition calling for the remains to stay in Leicester and to "do everything you can to make sure you keep up with York's petitions and campaigns". Last Friday, Mr Justice Haddon-Cave agreed to hear a review of the Ministry of Justice exhumation licence which gave the University of Leicester the power to decide where the king's bones are reinterred. Canadian-born furniture maker Mr Ibsen, 56, who lives and works in London, said the remains belonged in Leicester, at the cathedral, in line with the licence. It was Mr Ibsen's DNA which proved the skeleton found at a city centre car park last August by university archaeologists was that of the last Plantagenet monarch. Mr Ibsen said: "At first I sat on the fence, but then I was very impressed with the way everything was handled in Leicester and the effort and passion everyone was putting into the dig and the reinterment." The Plantagenet Alliance – a group of 15 people claiming to be related to Richard III – launched a campaign to snatch the bones after the university positively identified the remains of the 500-year-old monarch in February. In May, it submitted an application to the High Court for a review of the exhumation licence. The challenge highlighted a number of points, but boiled down to one argument – that no public consultation was held about where the bones should be reinterred. The alliance's call for a review of the licence was granted. The university and Ministry of Justice, the co-defendants in the High Court case, will now have to decide whether to accept the judicial review, or alternatively work with the Plantagenet Alliance to appoint an independent panel of experts to look at the issue. The panel would examine both arguments about where the remains should be reburied and decide whether the exhumation licence remains valid, or a nationwide public consultation should be carried out. Mr Ibsen said: "The thing that dismayed me the most was the Ministry of Justice licence – a legal contract – has just been swept aside. "It's setting a dangerous precedent for the future – what's to stop people questioning all exhumation licences?" The Ministry of Justice licence will run out in August next year. A petition with about 28,000 signatures showing support for reinterring the remains at York Minster will close next month. A similar Leicester campaign has 8,000 backers. However, deputy registrar at the University of Leicester Richard Taylor said there had been no need for a show of strength until now. "Before this review, we were fairly confident with the legal process and didn't see any point in rallying people to get behind our project," he said. But he and Mr Ibsen said it was now time to get vocal and back Leicester as the final resting place of the king. "I was saying just the other day that if I was mayor I'd get my skates on," said Mr Ibsen. "This shouldn't be a popularity contest, but you've got to do everything you can to make sure you keep up with York's petitions and campaigns." A university spokesman said that despite the disappointment of last week's ruling, it remained "extremely confident" in the strength of its case, saying: "Richard has lain in the parish of St Martins for over more than 500 years." To sign the petition to keep the remains here, search for "Richard III Leicester" at: epetitions.direct.gov.uk
Reported by This is 1 day ago.