The Richard III DNA findings are relevant to this question in one narrow respect: the researchers noted that the Y-chromosome results from the Beaufort-line comparators would theoretically allow researchers to compare against any remains believed to be those of the princes, who would share both mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA with Richard through their common Plantagenet ancestry. But this observation is purely prospective — it identifies a possible future avenue of investigation that depends on access that has not been granted.
The genetic evidence about Richard’s probable appearance — blue eyes, likely blond hair — fills in one kind of historical gap without addressing the deeper questions about his character, his decisions, or his guilt or innocence in the most serious charges against him. The bones do not speak to the question of what Richard III knew or did not know about his nephews. They do not speak to the nature of his government, the extent of his cruelties or his genuine policy achievements, or the complex relationship between his historical reputation and the political interests of the dynasty that deposed him.
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## The Living Relatives
Michael Ibsen has become, in the years since 2012, a figure of unusual historical significance through no choice of his own. He was going about his work as a furniture maker when he was contacted by genealogical researchers seeking a DNA sample from a distant maternal ancestor. He provided the sample. His mitochondrial DNA happened to match the ancient DNA extracted from the skeleton. He built the coffin in which that skeleton was eventually interred.