What's New

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Keep up to date with news about Richard III on this website and the Richard III Society website.



Booking is now open for events commemorating the 10th anniversary of King Richard's reburial at Leicester Cathedral.

Details of the events - and how to book - can be found here

Who Was Richard III? - Busting the Mythology - nine new short films in celebration of the centenary of the Richard III Society.

This 27 minute presentation has been added to the Richard III Society's fast-growing YouTube channel. Given by Philippa Langley MBE, it's entitled 'The Character and Personality of Richard III - from contemporary descriptions created during his lifetime as Duke and King.' It was filmed as part of the international launch of Yvonne Morley-Chisholm's A Voice For Richard Project at York Theatre Royal on 17th November 2024.

King Richard's avatar is available here.


On 3rd December 2024 there was a programme on the Princes in the Tower (subtitled 'The Damning Evidence') on Channel 5 at 9pm. In it Professor Tim Thornton reveals the will of Margaret Capell (d. 1516) in which she bequeathed a chain of Edward V's to her son Giles. The chain had belonged to her husband, Sir William Capell (d. 1515).

Professor Thornton believes that the chain must have therefore belonged to Sir James Tyrell, Margaret's brother-in-law because Tyrell was the murderer of the Princes according to Thomas More. More's narrative was written in the sixteenth century, during the reign of Henry VIII, and published after his death in the reign of Elizabeth I. Shakespeare's play was then based on More's narrative.

The Richard III Society Board therefore thought that it might be helpful to make the following points of clarification for the broadcast:

1. The bequest is of a chain belonging to her deceased husband Sir William Capell. The recipient of the bequest is her eldest son, Sir Giles Capell. Sir Giles was born c.1486 and after 1509 became one of Henry VIII's leading courtiers and military captains. He was a frequent jousting companion of the king. There is no mention of the collar/chain in Sir Giles's will (1557), or those of his sons

2. Sir William Capell was prosecuted under Henry VII for usury and various other financial misdemeanours. He was an important money lender who acquired all sorts of metalwork as surety, including people's signet rings. The chain may simply have been given to Sir William as collateral for a loan.

3. We have no evidence to authenticate the chain as belonging to Edward V other than the will.

4. The recipient of the chain was Sir Giles Capell. Another of Dame Margaret's brothers-in-law was Sir Giles Daubeney. Daubeney had been a member of Edward IV's household, joined the rebels against Richard III in October 1483, and joined the Earl of Richmond in exile shortly after. He fought for Henry VII at Bosworth and was rewarded with the lieutenancy of Calais and made chamberlain of Henry VII's household. It is just as possible that Margaret named her eldest son in recognition of Sir Giles Daubeney and he gifted the chain to the Capells on the occasion of the birth of their first son. There is therefore a connection to Daubeney for the chain.

5. There is no evidence that the chain belonged to Sir James Tyrell.

As a result of the above, Professor Thornton's discovery cannot be deemed as evidence but conjecture. He acknowledges this in his accompanying article in the journal History.

For more, please see Matt Lewis's blog:

The Missing Princes Project will shortly be publishing more archival discoveries for the survival of both sons of King Edward IV of England.

Annette Carson wrote a commentary on the programme as she watched it, and posted it on her Facebook page.

The Princes in the Tower: A Debatable 'Discovery' - further comment from the Research Committee of the Richard III Society.


The Richard III Society has a series of induction videos in the Members' Area of the website. These videos are designed to provide both new and long-standing Society members with a deeper understanding of the many benefits the Society offers, along with insights into our history, purpose and operations.

The videos, which range from 5 to 15 minutes, serve as a brief introduction to various topics. The series is divided into three parts:

In Part 1, Matt Lewis, former Chair of the Society, provides an introduction, while Philippa Langley, our PR Officer, explains the Society's mission and purpose.

Part 2 focuses on the benefits of membership. The Ricardian journal is introduced by its editor Joanna Laynesmith, while Bulletin editor Alec Marsh delves into The Ricardian Bulletin. For those interested in learning and research, Carolyn Hammond shares insights about the Barton Library, Heather Falvey discusses our palaeography course, and Amanda Geary and Iain Farrell explore the Society website and the education website respectively. For those interested in events and meet ups, Jane Trump highlights the branches and groups, Sue Ollier talks about in-person events and excursions and Julia Langham takes members through the many online events and talks available.

The final part offers a brief history of the Society, its achievements and its governance, with contributions from John Saunders, John Whiting and Christopher Tinmouth.

Log in to the Members' Area of our website to start watching today!


On Sunday 17th November A Voice For Richard revealed how they thought he would sound and speak.

Meet the experts, the people involved in the project.


From the Board of the Richard III Society - The History of King Richard III by Sir George Buc now available online for free:

Last year the Richard III Society funded the publication of The History of King Richard III by Sir George Buc, Master of the Revels, edited by Arthur Kincaid, and published by the Society of Antiquaries. We are delighted to announce that this has now been digitised and is available for download, free of charge, at

Sir George Buc (AKA Buck) was a noted scholar, Ambassador for King James I, and Master of the King's Revels. His patron was the Earl of Arundel - the 'Collector Earl' - descendant of Richard III's friend John Howard, Duke of Norfolk. Buc admired King Richard, and decided to write a major work in his defence, which he dedicated to Arundel.

This was an age when the antiquaries and heralds had started amassing their great libraries and collections of documents from the past...and vowed they would accept no tales and fables that weren't supported by evidence.

For centuries Sir George's carefully researched book of 1619 remained an unpublished MS, ignored and damaged, while a stolen, truncated version was printed in 1646 - passed off as the work of one 'George Buck Esq' (a distant relative). You may have met it as a Google Book, but don't be misled by this dreadful travesty, which distorts all Buc's painstaking arguments!

This is the real thing, Sir George Buc's original work lovingly transcribed by Ricardian scholar Arthur Kincaid. Its introduction takes you into Buc's fascinating world, informed by the great collectors like Cotton and Camden, who opened their libraries to him.

It was this book that revealed Elizabeth of York's famous letter, which belonged to Buc's patron. Kincaid has now revisited and re-transcribed Buc's report of this letter, which you can see for yourself illustrated inside.

For the historians among us, Kincaid provides a treasury of historical notes where Sir George Buc's evidences and references are hunted down and set out in full. His additional research brings us right up to the present day, and into the aftermath of the discovery of King Richard's grave. Ricardians in particular will love his closing salvo, 'Folklore and History'.

The Society is proud to be a part of making this book available to all.


The Yorkist History Trust is publishing a Festschrift volume of essays on the fifteenth century dedicated to Peter and Carolyn Hammond. Entitled Loyalty Binds Me: Yorkist Studies for Peter and Carolyn Hammond, it is edited by Richard Asquith and Christian Steer and will be published in Spring 2025.

The Festschrift will include articles by Joanna Laynesmith, Marie Barnfield, Heather Falvey, Livia Visser-Fuchs, Michael Jones, Anne Curry, A J Pollard, Michael Hicks and many more.

Cost £25, post free in UK, £10 for postage overseas.


The Ricardian Bulletin is available online for members of the Richard III Society. You need to login to the Society website and visit the Members' Area.


The Itinerary of Richard, Duke of Gloucester: 1452-1483 by the Richard III Society's Research Officer, Marie Barnfield, has been published by the Society.
The book offers a meticulously researched overview of Richard III's movements in the years before he became king. Drawing exclusively from primary source documents to trace Richard's whereabouts, the book presents the clearest and most reliable picture of events available.
Organised in a user-friendly tabular format covering the years 1452 to 1483, the itinerary allows readers to follow Richard's journeys chronologically or refer to specific dates with ease. Wherever Richard's location is certain, it is clearly stated, while in cases where his movements are less documented, supplementary primary sources are judiciously utilised to provide informed conjecture.
In addition to being a vital resource because of its comprehensive approach, the itinerary also offers new insight into historically ambiguous periods in Richard's life, including where Richard was living in the 1460s, his preferred dwellings, his travel patterns and regional inclinations, as well as offering additional clarity on the Scottish campaigns of the 1480s. It also features an illuminating appendix detailing Richard's London residences.
This book is the first to comprehensively explore Richard III's movements as a youth and as Duke of Gloucester, and will be an essential resource to any researcher studying the later fifteenth century.

The Itinerary of Richard, Duke of Gloucester: 1452-1483 costs £20, or £15 for members, and is now available from the Society website.

Also available on Kindle. For Amazon UK click here

For Amazon US click here.

Kindle Unlimited subscribers can read the book for free as part of their subscription.
If you have the time, please leave the book a review to encourage Amazon to promote it to others.
PLEASE NOTE: The eBook is a print replica format, meaning the text is not reflowable. It is thus not suitable for reading on small screens. We recommend reading the eBook version on a tablet or laptop with a larger screen for the best reading experience.


Philippa Langley unveiled a plaque at Sudeley Castle on April 15 2024, commemorating Richard III's ownership of the castle.



Guardian article (3rd March 2024) about Richard III: Murderer, manipulator. or not that bad at all? The reframing of Richard III


Not Just The Tudors - a podcast featuring Matt Lewis discussing with Nathen Amin the evidence for the survival into Henry VII's reign of the Princes in the Tower, as detailed in Philippa Langley's book
'The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case'.
It lasts about an hour.


The Channel 4 documentary about the missing princes is now on youtube.


Philippa's book, 'The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case' is out now.

The Richard III Society has more information on its home page.

A positive review of this book on History Hit

An article about Coldridge and Edward V.

A review of Philippa's book


Ashley Mantle's book Uncrowned: Royal Heirs Who Didn't Take The Throne is out now.

A promotional video for Ashley Mantle's book Uncrowned


From the Board of the Richard III Society, March 2024:

The Richard III Society has acquired a key document from 1485.

On 30th November 2023, the Richard III Society successfully placed the winning bid at an auction in the United States for a grant given by King Richard III in 1485. The document is a single page on vellum and has retained almost intact an instance of the Great Seal of Richard III. It did not match the requirements of bodies such as The National Archives because it was the received grant, not the government's copy kept on record. The US Branch has been a great support in collecting and storing the grant securely. Special thanks are due to Liz Bateman of the Tidewater Chapter for her invaluable assistance.

The document is a grant of the Lieutenancy of Guînes Castle in Calais to Sir James Tyrell. Sir James was in Richard's service for more than a decade before he became king and has become closely associated with stories of the fates of the Princes in the Tower. The grant, which is in Latin and has been transcribed and translated by member Erik Michaelson, was made at Westminster on 22nd January 1485. It appoints Tyrell as 'Warden, Governor, and Overseer of our Castle of Guysnes' in the wake of the escape of the Earl of Oxford.

'This is something new and exciting for the Richard III Society', said Chair Matt Lewis. 'It is an important document issued by Richard at a time of growing crisis, but the document, and particularly the seal are things of beauty too.'

The grant offers new opportunities for study for the Society, and discussions are underway to put it on display in York during the Society's centenary AGM this year. A permanent home is also being investigated for the document to ensure that it is properly preserved and cared for. The grant was purchased using legacy funds donated to the Society and will see the return of the document to the UK after a long period overseas.


From The Board of the Richard III Society: A new publication of Arthur Kincaid's magisterial edition of The History of King Richard the Third by Sir George Buc (aka Buck). Sir George's masterpiece (1619) was written to vindicate King Richard's actions and career, and even dared to suggest that the sons of Edward IV never met their end at his hands.

Master of the Revels at the Court of King James I, Buc adhered to the stern principles of the antiquary movement, accepting no tales and fables but demanding evidentiary proof.

Alas for the great man's scholarly reputation, Sir George was hardly cold in his grave than his MS was stolen, and a worthless travesty was published in 1646 (the one on Google Books) - passed off as the work of one 'George Buc Esq' - which has been dismissed and ridiculed for 400 years.

Buc's carefully researched book was rescued from obscurity by Ricardian scholar Arthur Kincaid, with the first authentic edition appearing in 1979. Arthur's assiduous work has now brought it right up to 2021, including a reassessment of Elizabeth of York's letter (illustrated within). Ricardians will love his closing salvo, 'Folklore and History'.

RRP £45, but members enjoy exclusive discounted price of £36. Order from Pen and Sword quoting ISBN 978-0-85431-304-4 and apply your discount code before checkout.

Direct orders in North America can be placed with Casemate and apply your discount code before checkout.


News from The Board of the Richard III Society: In 2024 Barnard Castle will celebrate 550 years since the lordship of the town was granted to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III. Windows for the King will install seven etched glass windows in the porch of St Mary's to mark this anniversary.

St Mary’s church council (PCC), in partnership with the Northern Dales Richard III Group (NDRIIIG), are excited to announce a major project to commemorate Richard III, Duke of Gloucester and King of England, in Barnard Castle. Our ‘Windows for the King’ appeal aims to install seven etched glass windows above the inner porch doorway of St Mary’s Parish Church, Barnard Castle to commemorate Richard and his close connection with St Mary’s.

As Lord of Barnard Castle, Richard invested huge sums of money to re-build St Mary’s and transform it into a Collegiate Church: this project was close to completion when he died at Bosworth. The College would have been dedicated to Christ, the Virgin Mary, St Margaret of Scotland and St Ninian.

Three central etched panels will depict Christ with Mary, and these two northern saints personally connected with Richard. A further two panels will portray St Helen of the Holy Cross and St Catherine of Alexandria, saints with medieval chantries within or close to St Mary’s in the late C15th. The final two panels will show Ricardian boars, as ‘supporters’, as illustrated on the St Anthony effigy near the font in St Mary’s.

Alongside the 1934 Richard III Society window in St Alkelda & St Mary’s Middleham, and the Memorial Window in York Minster, given by the Society of Friends of Richard III in 1997, the Windows for the King will be a lasting tribute to Richard’s personal faith, and demonstrate his dedication to the North and to the town where he was Lord of the Manor from 1474.

You can make a donation to the project here.


Members of the Richard III Society receive a membership card which must be shown to entitle them to the following discounts:

Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle: discounted rate of £7 per person for groups of 12 or more.

Ludlow Castle: discount of 10% for groups of 10 or more.

York Archaeological Trust - Barley Hall and the Richard III and Henry VII Experiences: individual discounts of 15%.

King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester: individual discount of 25%. Tickets are valid for a year for free return entry.

Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre & Country Park, Sutton Cheney, Nuneaton CV13 0AD - 20% off

Donington 1620s House and Garden, Manor Road, Donington Le Heath, Coalville LE67 2FW - 20% off

Haddon Hall - individual discount of 10% on full ticket price.

Sudeley Castle no longer offer a discount, as from August 2018.

Tewkesbury Battlefield Society is offering a free guided walk of the battlefield. However, a small donation (£2 - £3) at the end of the tour is requested towards the costs of the Tewkesbury Battlefield Society.
Free walks for Branches or Groups can be arranged outside the scheduled walks. These include a tour of the Abbey which would incur a £5 donation per person paid to the Abbey for its upkeep (that is the amount the Abbey suggests per visitor).
The Tewkesbury Battlefield Society also runs a few additional events each year such as talks and extended walks etc. There is a charge for these and the Society is offering a 20% discount to members of the Richard III Society.
Tewkesbury Abbey has a couple of rooms it lets out, if a branch wanted to have a base in the town for a day. There is a small kitchen for teas etc and a café on site. Contact is best made directly to them via the Abbey website.


The Richard III Society donated a Richard III standard to Middleham Castle. It will be flown on the dates below. The standard was officially donated to the castle on behalf of the Society on 2nd October 2016 at 2.30pm by Susan Wells, Deputy Chairman.

1st February - Richard marries Anne 1473
16th March - Queen Anne’s death 1485
26th March - Reburial in Leicester of Richard III 2015
16th April - Edward of Middleham died 1484
29th June - Richard granted the Neville strongholds of Middleham, Sheriff Hutton and Penrith 1471
First weekend in July - Middleham Festival
6th July - Richard III crowned 1483
22nd August - Richard III died 1485
2nd October - Birth of Richard III 1452

Where exact dates are not known for certain events in the aforementioned list, the dates chosen are symbolic and as close to the likely date as we can ascertain. In addition, it has been agreed to fly the banner during the Middleham Festival each July.


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Page last updated on 23 January 2025