A Unique Search

Unique Search for an Anointed King of England

Philippa’s first task was to generate interest from the people in Leicester who could say yea or nay. She had to convince them that Richard III could still be found, that this was an historic quest for an anointed king, and that it was worth disrupting city life to search for him.

You need people with vision to embrace a scheme like that, and Philippa found them in the city council. She gave them the Reburial Document, drawn up by fellow founder members Dr David and Wendy Johnson, which set out the project’s ethos and objectives. Yes, the council understood it was a gamble and a potential headache … but in Leicester they already commemorated Richard III with plaques and place-names in his honour. They were willing to give the go-ahead, but couldn’t underwrite the cost. How to proceed now?

So began Philippa’s long road which lasted three years. Selling the concept, raising the funds, planning the logistics, recruiting the participants, commissioning the archaeological work and overseeing the whole process – in person – in Leicester – hundreds of miles from her home in Edinburgh.

Making the Archaeology Happen

Not every archaeologist jumps at every suggestion for a dig.

The good news was that one of the UK’s leading archaeological teams, University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS), operated locally. Not such good news was that from start to finish, they categorised the idea of finding King Richard as ‘a long shot’. What tipped the balance, fortunately, was that they considered it valuable to go in search of the lost medieval site of the Greyfriars.

Philippa got busy finding the money to pay for desk based research by ULAS. This would enable her as the client in the project to formally commission the archaeological search for the king. She knew that the Richard III Society offered bursaries for original historical research. Philippa’s application was successful and under the leadership of chairman Phil Stone, the Society authorised her immediate payment. Philippa now formally commissioned the archaeological contractors and the desk based assessment .. and the results, which included consulting a 1741 map of Leicester, confirmed that the history of the Greyfriars site, as discovered by Ricardian researchers over the years, was 100 per cent accurate. The next step was a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey. Philippa commissioned leading geophysics experts Stratascan in Worcester, securing Ricardian and private investment to fund this original research, and Phil stepped up to ensure this also reached its funding target.

The years ticked by, and the project moved forward – 2011 for the GPR – would it be 2012 for the dig? This was the big one, and serious funding was needed for Philippa to commission ULAS to do the full archaeological excavation as planned and agreed. Equipment had to be paid for, disruption of services had to be paid for, restitution of the ground afterwards had to be paid for … and Philippa found a sponsor. Agreements were signed off and the dig was on for April 2012 – but then the sponsorship fell through!

One Step Back, Two Steps Forward

By this time Philippa had acquired two further supporters whose recent books had helped inspire her quest. There was John Ashdown-Hill (find out about his input under Greyfriars and DNA), and Annette Carson, who happened to be a communications professional as well as an author. These skills were suddenly desperately needed as the search hit a last minute funding disaster – the original sponsor had once again hit difficulties, £10,000 had to be found within 3 weeks or the dig was off!

Within 2 days Annette had orchestrated an appeal campaign and leaflet. In one day Philippa had emailed Ricardians all over the world. Within 2 weeks Richard’s army of Ricardian donors had more than made good the shortfall. Who’d have believed it possible? Ricardians and the Richard III Society now constituted the main sponsors of the Looking For Richard Project.

The dig was saved, but there was no time to rest on laurels. A new campaign was now needed to alert media interest while keeping the focus firmly on Richard III – not the oh-so-familiar caricature, but the real historical Richard III whose body had remained in obscurity for too long.

The launch was on 24th August and the media came in droves. They loved the idea of the impossible quest. They interviewed everyone and photographed everything.

Greatly in demand was the authentically garbed knight in shining armour, Dominic Sewell, a leading exponent of living history who travelled to Leicester with his comrade in arms, Henry Sherrey, to explain and demonstrate the absurdity of that infamous hunched back and withered arm. Toby Capwell was there too, from the Wallace Collection. An expert on arms and armour and of Metalworks TV fame, he made time in his busy schedule to come and talk about Richard’s last battle.

Support poured in from so many Ricardians that sadly its impossible to name them all. A significant contribution was made by Karen Ladniuk who travelled all the way from Brazil to assist the archaeological team as a volunteer. Several media photographers depicted Karen at the dig.

The news quickly circled the world and went viral on Twitter. Channel 4 had been considering commissioning a TV documentary, and they hesitated no longer!

All images courtesy of Colin G Brooks and Philippa Langley unless otherwise stated.