Genetic Genealogy Helps Identify the Skeleton of King Richard III

A University of Leicester photograph shows the skeleton of King Richard III found at the Grey Friars Church excavation site in Leicester, England.

Last September, an archeological dig in Leicester, England, discovered what was believed to be the bones of King Richard III after the skeleton was found buried six feet below a municipal parking lot. The team of archaeologists, historians, genealogists and geneticists who worked to make the identification announced today that the find is authentic. The New York Times:

The geneticist Turi King told a news conference held by the University of Leicester research team that DNA samples taken from two modern-day descendants of Richard III’s family matched those from the bones found at the site. One of the descendants, Michael Ibsen, is the son of a 16th-generation niece of King Richard’s. The second wished to remain anonymous, the researchers said.

The bones will be reinterred at Leicester’s Anglican cathedral in a service sometime next year after research is complete. 

The skull of King Richard III at the Grey Friars Church excavation site in Leicester Photo: EPA/REUTERS