Richard III. Image: Wikimedia Commons

A skeleton found beneath a Leicester car park has been confirmed as that of English king Richard III.Experts from the University of Leicester said DNA from the bones matched that of descendants of the monarchs family.Lead archaeologist Richard Buckley, from the University of Leicester, told a press conference to applause: “Beyond reasonable doubt its Richard.”

via BBC News – Richard III dig: DNA confirms bones are kings.

The link above from BBC News Leicester is chock-a-block with info about the dig, about the bones and about Richard, the last Plantagenet King of England.

Honestly, I don’t know much about him, just Shakespeare’s version. I saw Ian McKellen do it onstage in the 90s, then on film. Terrific. It’s a cracking good play.

I studied the early Plantagenets in college. Henry I and his queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, being particularly mesmerizing subjects. A great modern American play (and, like everything else, subsequently a film) about the first Plantagenets is The Lion in Winter. Henry is “the lion,” but the best lines are Eleanor’s. In fact, in history, Eleanor is one of the most fascinating women of the last millennia, I believe.

P.S. — Headline courtesy of an American friend of mine who lives in the U.K. I told her “Plantagenet Frenzy” sounded like a new bistro dish. Comes with crisps. Rotten old bones extra!