Leicester Cathedral was confirmed as the burial site. A new tomb was designed, incorporating Swaledale fossil stone for the main table tomb and a Kilkenny marble plinth. The King Richard III Visitor Centre, which incorporated the excavation site under a glass floor so visitors could view the location of the original burial, opened in July 2014 and has since become a significant tourist attraction.
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## March 2015: A Reburial Five Centuries Late
The reburial events took place over a week in late March 2015, beginning on March 22.
On that day, the remains — which had been held in a specially constructed lead-lined ossuary since the excavation — were sealed and placed inside an oak coffin built by Michael Ibsen. A procession retraced part of the route Richard’s body had traveled after Bosworth Field, passing through towns with historical connections to the king before arriving in Leicester.
From March 23 to 25, the coffin lay in repose at Leicester Cathedral, where members of the public could pay their respects. The queues of visitors stretched outside and around the cathedral. The estimated number of people who filed past the coffin during those two days ran into the tens of thousands.
On March 23, a Requiem Mass was celebrated at the Holy Cross Priory Church by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, reflecting Richard III’s Catholic faith. The service incorporated historical liturgical elements appropriate to the late fifteenth century.
The formal reburial service was held on March 26, 2015. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby presided, and the service was broadcast on Channel 4. Sophie, Countess of Wessex, attended as a representative of Queen Elizabeth II. The queen’s written message described the occasion as “an event of great national and international significance.”