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The ranks of those who would like to see Richard III buried in York have been swelled by a war hero and former minister.
Admiral Lord West, who was in charge of Britain’s navy as First Sea Lord between 2002 and 2006, has stuck his oar into the argument about the final resting place of the last Plantagenet king.
About the admiral
Sir Alan West, 66, won the Distinguished Service Cross in the Falklands War. Commander of the frigate Ardent, he stayed at the helm of the vessel when it had been hit by Argentinian bombs
In 2007 he became security minister in Gordon Brown’s “Government of all the talents” and was created a life peer
He was both First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from 2002 to 2006
He told the BBC it was “very wrong” that the remains of Richard III were to be buried in Leicester – where they were found – and not in York.
It was February 2013 when University of Leicester academics announced that a skeleton found under a car park in the city was that of Richard III.
Plans to inter the remains in Leicester were challenged in court by a group who claimed the king wished to be buried in York, but a judge ruled against them.
On BBC Radio 4 current affairs show Broadcasting House on Sunday morning (August 17), Admiral Lord West discussed reports that tests on the skeleton had revealed the king’s liking for rich food and booze.
“On Richard III, I’m absolutely saddened by the fact he’s going to be buried in Leicester and not in York,” he said.
“I think it’s very wrong that that’s happening. I think he should really be in York.”
Fellow guest Patricia Greene, the actor who plays Jill Archer in Radio 4 soap The Archers, replied: “Well they found him in Leicester. Put him in Leicester.”
Lord West laughed, and said: “I hope wherever they find my body they don’t decide just to bury it there but might think where I should go.”
His comments came ahead of a Channel 4 documentary, Richard III: The New Evidence, which airs at 9pm on Sunday, August 17.
How bizarre that a government department, a city council and a university get to say where a king of England gets a proper burial, and no-one else – not the man’s descendants, nor the Royal Family, nor those who showed proof that he endowed a special memorial chapel in York Minster (which his successor disregarded). No other former heads of state were ever buried in a place just because they happened to die near there.
Richard III was a son of the House of York. Bring him home to York, the city which didn’t forget him.
Bravo Lord West. Leicester will always have the fantastic story of his discovery and the grave site. So why not let him be laid to rest in a place he called home. Bring Him Home to York.
You have my support and vote, to bring Richard III home to Yorkshire where he belongs.
Certainly have to agree with this. York should be the place. Self interest as decided Leicester.