An American's part in the farewell to an English King
March 22, 2015 12:59 PM   Subscribe

Richard III of England was interred today at Leicester Cathedral (official site for the burial). A New York woman was responsible for creating the traditional altar linens used in today's service. Richard III previously.
posted by immlass (40 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
Ms. Morgan's book is available via Amazon--hooray!
posted by magstheaxe at 1:09 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


"And if I die no soul will pity me.
And wherefore should they, since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself?”


Happy to say old Richard (or rather Shakespeare) was a bit wrong there.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:24 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


Great. Can I have my parking space back now?
posted by sexyrobot at 1:34 PM on March 22, 2015 [8 favorites]


Part of the way down the first link you can see the cortège somberly making its way past Vape Joy in downtown Loughborough.
posted by argybarg at 1:41 PM on March 22, 2015


Mayhap the king would like to pause, to partake in the joy of the vape?

Seriously, nice post, thanks.
posted by wallabear at 1:49 PM on March 22, 2015


THE KING IS STILL DEAD!

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!
posted by eriko at 1:53 PM on March 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


Mayhap the king would like to pause, to partake in the joy of the vape?

He's running late enough as it is!
posted by strangely stunted trees at 2:01 PM on March 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


I think Richard III was the last king from the north. I guess that makes him Ned Stark.

In all sincerity, though: the whole story has been very cool and interesting. I'm glad that he's getting buried at Leicester Cathedral.
posted by tickingclock at 2:04 PM on March 22, 2015 [3 favorites]


I'm going to Leicester to lay a floral bouquet on Richard's grave. I'm thinking of something like this. What do you guys think?
posted by Thing at 2:11 PM on March 22, 2015


Surely a white rose would be more appropriate, no? Or, if you really want to go the car route, a bunch of white roses arranged in the shape of a car.
posted by tickingclock at 2:18 PM on March 22, 2015


Damn, I was hoping they would bury him in the parking lot outside of Westminster Abbey.
posted by The Gaffer at 2:29 PM on March 22, 2015 [9 favorites]


Oh, Auntie Beeb: "Here you can see the detail on the king's coffin, which is strewn with white roses thrown by onlookers. Best to ignore the horse poo." (From the first link.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:30 PM on March 22, 2015


Sorrow breaks seasons and reposing hours,
Makes the night morning, and the noon-tide night.
Princes have but their titles for their glories,
An outward honour for an inward toil;
And, for unfelt imagination,
They often feel a world of restless cares:
So that, between their titles and low name,
There's nothing differs but the outward fame.
posted by arcticseal at 2:43 PM on March 22, 2015 [5 favorites]


What an odd little spectacle. I was a bit disappointed that the eccentric / bonkers lady from the Richard III Society didn't throw herself into the grave à la Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks though.
posted by sobarel at 2:43 PM on March 22, 2015 [5 favorites]


I'm glad that he's getting buried at Leicester Cathedral.

I know they're basically just putting him back where they found him (albeit across the street), and I appreciate that they've respected Richard's Catholicism in the reburial ceremony, and and and, but...

Burying Richard III in the Church of the Son of the Guy Who Stole England from Richard III seems a wee bit like a Fuck You.

And, well, alright, but if it's a Fuck You they're after, they really should have chucked his bones under some stairs in the Tower of London.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:50 PM on March 22, 2015 [4 favorites]


What an odd little spectacle.

The lovely linens are the least odd bit about it: they're a continuation of a craft tradition, whereas every other bit of the ceremonials since Richard got unearthed from the Pay and Display has been a kind of genteel English cosplay.
posted by holgate at 2:58 PM on March 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


I'm going to Leicester to lay a floral bouquet on Richard's grave.

Check to see if some wag has left a plush toy horse while you're there.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:00 PM on March 22, 2015 [13 favorites]


I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks that lady's a little...odd. I'm super pleased that she led an initiative to find Richard III's body, and that they found it, but she comes across as a little bit of a stalker-y fan, I guess is the way I would describe her? I'm trying to be more respectful of what is obviously her life's passion.

I did enjoy the way she just sort of had to sit down when they found evidence of the curved spine. She'd spent so much time talking about how the hunchback was a lie, his back was perfectly straight, he was actually quite dashing and handsome, it's all just horrible propaganda, etc. Then, whoopsie, hey guess what. His back actually wasn't straight! You could sort of see her rearranging her conceptions of him in her head while she was looking at it in the ground.

I listened to this podcast the other day and the president of the Richard III society was still in a little bit of denial about the spine, I thought. "He was not a hunchback, he had a scoliosis. It was a condition, not a deformity, and I'm happy we were able to disprove the hunchback myth." (I'm paraphrasing.) Well, okay. But I saw the way they modeled it to show what Richard III's back and shoulders would have looked like in life and frankly it looked very much like a hunchback to me, or at least I can see where people who saw him might have considered him a hunchback.

It seemed like a pretty fine distinction to make, but then the Richard III society's whole purpose is to rehabilitate his image and prove that he was a wonderful human being and a rightful king and so on. They're pretty invested. Spinning the findings to make it sound as positive as possible is to be expected. Also a bit disingenuous.
posted by That's Numberwang! at 3:07 PM on March 22, 2015 [3 favorites]


at least I can see where people who saw him might have considered him a hunchback.

Especially the Tudors!
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:34 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


Burying Richard III in the Church of the Son of the Guy Who Stole England from Richard III seems a wee bit like a Fuck You.

Yes, but to whom?
posted by acb at 3:54 PM on March 22, 2015 [6 favorites]


That was great. Maybe next time they'll find Edward the II under a Starbucks (fingers crossed).
posted by thivaia at 4:09 PM on March 22, 2015


Burying Richard III in the Church of the Son of the Guy Who Stole England from Richard III seems a wee bit like a Fuck You.

They also stopped the procession and had a service at Bosworth Field. Do you think he'd really wants to go back to Bosworth Field?
posted by PlusDistance at 4:10 PM on March 22, 2015 [11 favorites]


Maybe next time they'll find Edward the II under a Starbucks

If the legends are true, the might find Richard II working in a Starbucks. They say that he made a latte for Edward III when the younger king was visiting Germany, having escaped England to live as a wandering baristo.

The legend says that it was delicious.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:26 PM on March 22, 2015 [5 favorites]


👑
posted by clavdivs at 4:55 PM on March 22, 2015 [2 favorites]




Ha, like he's going to stay dead. Better keep a chainsaw handy just in case. Or a polearm. Or a POLEARM CHAINSAW ok I'll just show myself out

but I'll be the one laughing when Richard the ∞ surfaces to reclaim the throne
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:22 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


I was thinking of doing a FPP about Josephine Tey, but in case I don't, The Daughter of Time.

Inspector Grant investigates Richard III and discovers that...

[spoiler]

...he is innocent. Richard's face is too nice to be a murderer's face.
posted by betweenthebars at 6:01 PM on March 22, 2015 [2 favorites]


magstheaxe: "Ms. Morgan's book is available via Amazon--hooray!"

I own that book! ... and use it to make church linens. Which are not as fine as hers, but it's a good use for my overwhelming embroidery output that I cannot afford to continually frame. :)

It's a good book, there really are shockingly few resources for making church linens by hand and the mass-produced stuff isn't nearly as nice.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:23 PM on March 22, 2015 [4 favorites]


I'm a little surprised that none of the current royal family turned out for it. Of course it's not his family, but a king is a king.
posted by Countess Elena at 8:10 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


Wasn't Sophie Wessex there?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:46 PM on March 22, 2015


They haven't buried him yet. Today was just the ceremonial towing.
posted by holgate at 9:25 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


I thought from what they said that they had but I had heard the interment was going to be on the 26th. (Mods, feel free to correct!)
posted by immlass at 9:35 PM on March 22, 2015


Prince Richard, the Queen's cousin and patron of the Richard III Society, attended today's ceremonies. Richard Windsor is the second Duke of Gloucester in its current creation, while Richard Plantagenet was the the only Duke of Gloucester in its third creation (more info).
posted by Ranucci at 9:40 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


Pallas Athena: "Or a POLEARM CHAINSAW ok I'll just show myself out"

Just out of curiosity, you know those actually exist, right?
posted by stet at 10:41 PM on March 22, 2015 [3 favorites]


This whole thing baffles me. Maybe it's because I grew up in Scotland (where the English monarchy are firmly not on the agenda). I just don't get why this is such big news! It's all over the national media. People queued for *4 HOURS* to see the coffin. Who are these people? Why do they care so much?
posted by leo_r at 11:42 AM on March 23, 2015


.
posted by lester's sock puppet at 12:12 PM on March 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


leo_r: "Who are these people? Why do they care so much?"

It's a major archaeological find!

I could care less about monarchs in general but I'd totally queue to see this. People queued longer than that to see King Tut's mummy, at museums all over the world.

The people shouting "Long Live King Richard" are a little weird, but humans gonna human, they're always weird in sufficiently large numbers.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:13 PM on March 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Maybe it's because I grew up in Scotland (where the English monarchy are firmly not on the agenda).

Well, not for true Scotsmen....
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:54 PM on March 23, 2015


I don't understand why they didn't bury RIII in York?
posted by magstheaxe at 1:50 PM on March 24, 2015


tickingclock: "I think Richard III was the last king from the north. I guess that makes him Ned Stark.

In all sincerity, though: the whole story has been very cool and interesting. I'm glad that he's getting buried at Leicester Cathedral.
"

You mean John Uskglass.
posted by Chrysostom at 4:47 PM on March 24, 2015


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