King Richard III, who died in battle in 1485, and whose grave was forgotten and later discovered in 2012 to be under a parking lot at the location of a medieval friary. The remains were brought to the Leicester cathedral Sunday night during a service of Compline and he will be reburied on Thursday.
In the medieval rite of reburial, before reinterment the person’s remains were placed in the church while its usual pattern of worship continued.
This same pattern is being followed in the Cathedral this week: the remains will be in repose until Thursday when they will be reinterred during a special service based on Morning Prayer. from the website of the Archbishop
To follow more on Richard’s reburial please visit King Richard in Leicester website
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News reports indicate that the beautiful casket (inside the plain pine box) is made of oak and yew and lined with lead. It was built by a 16th great-nephew of the King, a Canadian-born cabinetmaker named Michael Ibsen, whose DNA made possible the identification of the remains. See http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/22/richard-iii-final-resting-place-500-years-bosworth .
At Thursday's service, another distant descendant, the actor Benedict Cumberbatch, will be reading a commemorative poem composed by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
Man, the English really know how to throw a funeral!
H.Lee-- please sign your first and last name when you comment.Thanks editor.
Sorry.
For a royal, it should be a cedar casket sealed in lead inside the plain pine box. Don't know if they actually still do this and, as there are only bones being translated, it hardly would be necessary.
Let's all note that the coffin, of a king no less, is a plain pine box.