The centre has become a significant attraction for Leicester, drawing visitors from across the United Kingdom and internationally. The city’s connection to the discovery has been a source of substantial economic benefit as well as genuine civic pride.
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## A Name Restored Through Convergence
The identification of Richard III’s remains was not accomplished by any single piece of evidence. It was accomplished by the convergence of evidence that, individually, was suggestive and, collectively, was overwhelming.
The location told the story of where historical records said he had been buried. The skeletal analysis confirmed the age, sex, and physical condition described in historical accounts and, in the scoliosis, provided a precise and distinctive physical characteristic that matched a contemporary description. The injuries told the story of a violent death consistent with a fifteenth-century battle, with post-mortem handling consistent with the specific treatment described in contemporary accounts. The radiocarbon dating placed the death in the right century, with the dietary correction placing it in the right half of that century. The mitochondrial DNA provided direct biological confirmation of a maternal lineage documented through five centuries of genealogical records.
Each of these elements could, in isolation, be questioned. The location might be coincidence — other people were buried in friaries. The scoliosis might belong to any individual with that common condition. The battle injuries could belong to any medieval soldier. The radiocarbon date spans a century. The mitochondrial DNA match, while unlikely to be coincidental, could theoretically involve a different descendant of the same maternal ancestor who happened to be buried in the same location.