The procession entered Leicester via Bow Bridge, the route along which Richard’s body had been brought to the city 530 years earlier. Crowds gathered along the processional route in numbers that surprised some observers who had been skeptical about the level of public interest in a medieval king. Estimates of those who lined the streets ranged upward of 35,000 for the various procession stages.
The three days of lying in repose created scenes that had a quality both solemn and unexpectedly warm. Members of the public who had queued for hours to enter the cathedral — and the queues were long, stretching around the building and down the street — left flowers, notes, and personal tributes on the steps outside. The interior of the cathedral was kept deliberately simple: the coffin on a bier, soft lighting, and quiet. Visitors were asked to be silent.
The formal reburial service on March 26 was broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, reaching an audience significantly larger than those present in the cathedral. The service combined Anglican liturgy with elements that acknowledged Richard’s own Catholic faith — the Requiem Mass that had been celebrated separately at Holy Cross Priory Church three days earlier had reflected the faith he held in life, while the cathedral service reflected the contemporary national church. Archbishop Welby’s homily included careful historical acknowledgment that Richard’s reputation had been shaped by partisan accounts, without attempting to adjudicate the historical debates.
Carol Ann Duffy’s poem, read by Benedict Cumberbatch, was written specifically for the occasion and grappled with the themes of lost identity, historical time, and the relationship between a body and the name attached to it. The choice of Cumberbatch — who had played Richard III in a widely watched BBC production and who is a distant cousin of the king — gave the moment a cultural layering that some commentators found moving and others found slightly theatrical.