Richard III & the Car Park

[Phil H]

I think jewellery might have been plundered, though you might be right.

I wondered about fragments of the alabaster effigy/tomb.

You never know it might be something vague like a lead label that reads:

HERE LIES THE BODY OF KING RICHARD III BRUTALLY SLAIN AT BOSWORTH AND LAID HERE IN A TOMB IN THE GREYFRIARS, LOVE HENRY . [But in Latin, of course....]

Nah! That would be silly!!

Phil H

[RivkahChaya]

HERE LIES THE BODY OF KING RICHARD III BRUTALLY SLAIN AT BOSWORTH AND LAID HERE IN A TOMB IN THE GREYFRIARS, LOVE HENRY . [But in Latin, of course....]

What's the French word for "Pwned!"

[Monty]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-20759799

Monty

[jason_c]

Results of the dig are to be announced at a press conference on the 4th of February.

http://www2.le.ac.uk/news/blog/2013/...ess-conference

[Sally]

I imagne that indicates that the remains are thought to be those of Richard.

[RivkahChaya]

I imagne that indicates that the remains are thought to be those of Richard.

That does sound like too much pomp for entirely negative results.

[Cogidubnus]

What's the French word for "Pwned!"

I don't know that there is one...Since 1066 they haven't often been in a position to say it...

All the best

Dave

[RivkahChaya]

I don't know that there is one...Since 1066 they haven't often been in a position to say it...

[Sally]

That does sound like too much pomp for entirely negative results.

Exactly, Rivkah. If the results had shown that the remains were not those of Richard, I'd expect that there would be a minor press release, which in turn would lead to a minor news item - the sort that slots into the back ot the news stories, so that nobody will pay it too much attention

Leicester (university) have their impact statement to make - something that all UK universities now have to do to get a good rating and in turn attract funding. The discovery of Richard's remains would be (is?) of international importance - which is what all impact statements want to achieve, basically.

Now that I've said all that, the remains'll turn out to be those of some minor nobleman

[Bridewell]

Have just seen a trailer advertising a Channel 4 programme:

"Richard III - The King In the Car Park", scheduled to be transmitted in the UK at 9pm on Monday 4th February. Sounds promising. Will programme into Sky+

[Sally]

Yep, the remains are his - be very surprised if not.

Not such a shock really, considering the known history of the site. I hope that there will be a facial reconstruction, it'd be really interesting; not least to make a comparison with portraiture.

[Scorpio]

Regardless of the outcome, the media will no doubt make a big deal of it.
The degradation of the DNA will probably make a significant result unlikely anyway, but pop culture wont take any heed of that, and insist its him if theres some positive outcome.

[jason_c]

That does sound like too much pomp for entirely negative results.

I agree to an extent. The pomp surrounding this press conference is muddied due to the television programme on the dig being shown that night. Someone is making money out of all this. Im sure the makers of the show had exclusive access and what not.

I've no problem with such a hook-up between academia and popular media. However, it should lead to us being cautious about any conclusions yet to be announced.

[RivkahChaya]

Just don't let Geraldo Rivera get involved. Or is that to obscure a reference? OK: he once did a two-hour TV special about opening Al Capone's vault, live, and didn't actually crack the door until the last couple of minutes; [SPOILER ALERT] there was nothing in it but some empty booze bottles. I didn't watch it, but it was back in the days before VCRs were very common, so you pretty much had to watch it, commercials and all, if you were interested.

Good thing we all have DVRs now. Everyone will record it, then wait for one person to watch it, and either tweet or blog the ending, and where the "good parts" are, then the rest of us can watch it. Or not, if it turns out to be a minor nobleman.

Of course, by the time it shows in the US, on BBCA, we will probably already know the results, which means that if it isn't Richard, it won't show, except maybe sometime in 2014, at 3am.

[Sally]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9...hard-III.html#

How very surprising!