A Nanoose woman will have to wait a month or more to hear a High Court of England decision on where her ancestor, King Richard III, will be buried, for once and for all.
Leslie Ibsen, 54, has learned much more about the ways of the Royal Family since she discovered in February 2013 that she’s genetically linked to King Richard III, who reigned 500 years ago.
King Richard’s remains were discovered in September 2012 under a parking lot in Leicester, England. He died in 1485 at age 32, after two years on the throne.
His successor, King Henry VII, celebrated his victory in the Wars of the Roses by displaying Richard’s nude body to the people of Leicester.
Ibsen’s royal blood came through her deceased mother, Joy, who was a descendant of Richard’s sister, Anne of York. A researcher used DNA samples to confirm the family connection.
Three English justices adjourned a court hearing last Thursday with word they’d make a ruling within four to six weeks on the location of the king’s final resting place.
“When he was exhumed, the minister of justice had a clause saying that he should be reinterred in Leicester and I think they’re trying to honour that,” Ibsen said.
Another branch of the family is opposed to the burial being in Leicester, preferring he be buried in York.
“It’s basically a big shemozzle, so we’ll see what happens in four to six weeks,” said Ibsen.
It’s a bit amusing for Ibsen to be caught up in a battle over the disposition of royal remains, but she knows the decision would have been important to her mother, who died in 2008, unaware of her blue blood connection.
Ibsen said she and her two brothers, one in Ontario and the other in England, are pushing for King Richard to be buried in Leicester because that’s what their mother would want.
“I know she for sure would have wanted him to be reinterred in Leicester,” Ibsen said.
She “kind of expected” a family fight would break out over King Richard’s final resting place.
“It’s hard to know how it’s all going to turn out,” she said.
When the king does go back into the ground, Ibsen and her family plan to be there.
Ibsen suspects the court battle is one over tourism, with York and Leicester trying to cash in on a king made famous, in part, by playwright William Shakespeare.
“Really that’s what it’s about and it’s really sad — it comes down to tourism dollars,” said Ibsen.
