# What do you think the Brits will do if they find Richard III's remains? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 2012, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591 "2012-09-13T12:10:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/41 "2012-09-15T12:47:16Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > He wouldn’t know about Buckingham Palace (it was built more than 200 years after he died), and he would be rather confused by the appearance of the Palace of Westminster, given that it’s been rebuilt a few times since he lived in it. He’s a clone, as in Post 28, not a time traveller. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/42 "2012-09-15T22:34:44Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Put his skull on a stick and use it as the totem behind which the House of York can regather. It’s _never_ too late to get an old family feud rekindled, IMHO. That sounds like the last act of a desperate man. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/43 "2012-09-16T01:17:50Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > I think they might have a hunch. > 😃 I’m embarrassed to say how long it took me to get that! ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/44 "2012-09-16T02:48:30Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > I think there are living descendants of his mother and they have DNA from them. The queen, for instance… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/45 "2012-09-16T03:27:16Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > I think there are living descendants of his mother and they have DNA from them. Yes, through his sister Anne: [a Canadian family called Ibsen](http://www.canada.com/Canadian+identifying+corpse+lost+monarch+Richard/7248803/story.html). The Ibsen being tested is Richard’s great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-nephew. I may have the number of “greats” wrong, but another article said “seventeenth generation nephew.” ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/46 "2012-09-16T03:27:38Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > We could cast him as Yorick in _Hamlet_. I really enjoyed that. > [@Giles](#): > > If he is to be re-interred anywhere, I’d suggest in Leicester Cathedral, under [this memorial tablet](http://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/293450152/) (which might need to be amended slightly). It has the great advantage of being in the same parish. Yes, I think that would be very nice. > [@SCAdian](#): > > The queen, for instance… I did not think Elizabeth was descended from the Plantagenets. Doesn’t she descend from the Hanovarians? Do they descend from female Plantagenets? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/47 "2012-09-16T03:32:01Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I did not think Elizabeth was descended from the Plantagenets. Doesn’t she descend from the Hanovarians? Do they descend from female Plantagenets? Elizabeth of York married Henry Tudor (Henry VII). Incidentally, that means the current royal family has the same relationship to Richard III as the random Canadians. I wonder why they didn’t test the royals? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/48 "2012-09-16T03:46:36Z")
> [@Abortion\_Fanatic](#): > > Not to sound too morbid, but I’m thinking Prince Philip’s not-too-distant funeral will serve this purpose. Don’t they hold a dress rehersal every year once one of them turns 80? ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/49 "2012-09-16T04:00:13Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Don’t they hold a dress rehersal every year once one of them turns 80? They record each rehersal in high-def, edit out the bad parts such as a horse taking a dump, then stitch together all the flawless parts. It means, of course, that no one knows the real one isn’t being broadcast, because Harry is goosestepping again. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/50 "2012-09-16T04:46:51Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Elizabeth of York married Henry Tudor (Henry VII). Incidentally, that means the current royal family has the same relationship to Richard III as the random Canadians. I wonder why they didn’t test the royals? I assume they needed a direct descendent (of Richard’s mother) in the female line for mitochondrial DNA. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/51 "2012-09-16T04:51:14Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Elizabeth of York married Henry Tudor (Henry VII). Incidentally, that means the current royal family has the same relationship to Richard III as the random Canadians. I wonder why they didn’t test the royals? Since you only get mitochondrial DNA from your mother, they can only test people who are descended matrilineally (through women only) from one of Richard III’s matrilineal ancestors. Autosomal DNA isn’t helpful after so many generations. (IIRC, it’s something like five. Farther out than that, any similarity is more likely to be random chance than evidence of a common ancestor.) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/52 "2012-09-16T06:46:46Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Since you only get mitochondrial DNA from your mother, they can only test people who are descended matrilineally (through women only) from one of Richard III’s matrilineal ancestors. How about the Y chromosome from a male-line descendant of a male-line ancestor of Richard’s? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/53 "2012-09-16T07:04:01Z")
Regarding all the speculation about a funeral dry run for Queen Elizabeth, isn’t this getting dangerously close to [“compassing or imagining”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treason_Act_1351#Content) such? I’d hate to hear of any Dopers having their bowels burnt before their eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Abortion\_Fanatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@Abortion\_Fanatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abortion_Fanatic)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/54 "2012-09-16T09:59:13Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Regarding all the speculation about a funeral dry run for Queen Elizabeth, isn’t this getting dangerously close to [“compassing or imagining”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treason_Act_1351#Content) such? I’d hate to hear of any Dopers having their bowels burnt before their eyes. Well let me go ahead and state my belief that the woman of that family are bionic and I’m quite sure Lizzy will outlive us all. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/55 "2012-09-16T10:58:56Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Regarding all the speculation about a funeral dry run for Queen Elizabeth, isn’t this getting dangerously close to [“compassing or imagining”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treason_Act_1351#Content) such? No, because we’re talking about what happens after her death. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/56 "2012-09-16T11:12:05Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > No, because we’re talking about what happens after her death. That won’t save you from being hanged, drawn and quartered. To talk about what happens after her death you have to presume or imagine that she’s dead. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/57 "2012-09-16T13:22:57Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Elizabeth of York married Henry Tudor (Henry VII). Incidentally, that means the current royal family has the same relationship to Richard III as the random Canadians. I wonder why they didn’t test the royals? Elizabeth of York was descended from the same female as Richard III? Never mind, the genealogy of the British royal family over the most recent millennium or so will not get the dining room painted. But does anyone remember why mitochondrial DNA is passed only through the female line? ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/58 "2012-09-16T14:41:57Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Elizabeth of York was descended from the same female as Richard III? > > Never mind, the genealogy of the British royal family over the most recent millennium or so will not get the dining room painted. > > But does anyone remember why mitochondrial DNA is passed only through the female line? Elizabeth of York was the daughter of Edward IV, so she was Richard’s niece but didn’t share his mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are organelles found in the cell that are thought to have arisen from endosymbiosis - they were bacteria which were engulfed by primitive eukaryotic organisms. As such, they reproduce on their own in the cell and have their own DNA. During sexual reproduction, the sperm basically just contributes DNA in the form of chromosomes, but all the mitochondria come from the vastly larger egg. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/59 "2012-09-16T15:08:35Z")
(Just to clarify my earlier posts) None of the news articles I looked at mentioned mitochondrional DNA and the specific female-line requirement, which both makes a lot of sense and lets out Elizabeth of York’s descendants. In fact, I just checked: the article I linked to about the Ibsens was from a wire service, and what I read had edited out that (crucial!) paragraph about the mtDNA. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591/60 "2013-02-04T15:52:15Z")
Update: it was confirmed that it was Richard III: > **[Bones Under Parking Lot Belonged to Richard III (Published 2013)](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/world/europe/richard-the-third-bones.html?_r=0)** > > In one of Britain’s most dramatic modern archaeological finds, tests identified the remains of the reviled English monarch, a discovery that could lead to a reassessment of his reign. What they plan to do now is: > [@](#): > > Officials of the University of Leicester said plans were now in hand to bury the bones in Leicester’s Anglican cathedral, barely 100 yards from where the bones were found. A spokesman for the cathedral said that reburial would probably take place early next year as part of a memorial service honoring Richard as an English king. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-the-brits-will-do-if-they-find-richard-iiis-remains/634591.md?page=4)