Richard III and Stratford upon Avon

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, U.K. - April 6, 2013 - PRLog -- What does the most important find of the century and Stratford upon Avon have to do with each other? In February 2013, remains found beneath a council car park in Leicester solved the 500-year-old mystery about the final resting place of King Richard III.

Shakespeare, Stratford’s most famous son, of course wrote the play Richard III and forever influenced the public perception of King Richard as violent, hunch-backed, and evil man. Was it just Tudor propaganda to appease Elizabeth I? Very possibly, but at one point the play itself famously back-lashed against Queen Elizabeth when the 2nd Earl of Essex used it as an example of how a weak king (such as a female monarch) could and should be usurped, when setting up a rebellion against the Queen.

Coda Books, a Stratford-based company of film makers who have made countless documentaries for the History Channel; have put together a documentary about these remarkable events. This week at Tudor World the Falstaff Experience, the only museum in the country devoted to the Tudors, Coda Books used the historic building as one of their backdrops to interview the owners of Tudor World, Janet and John Ford; as well as Dr Ashdown-Hill and Dr Stuart Hampton-Reeves.

Dr Ashdown-Hill worked with the Richard III Society and archaeologists at the University of Leicester to locate the site of Richard III’s remains at Greyfriars - now a car park belonging to the city council - where an unearthed skeleton’s DNA matched that of Mr Ibsen, a surviving Plantagenet descendent. Dr Ashdown-Hill, author of The Last Days of Richard III, hopes the discovery might help change public perception of a much-maligned king, accused of locking his nephews in the Tower of London and stealing the throne.

Dr Stuart Hampton-Reeves, the chair of the Board of Trustees of the British Shakespeare Association and Professor of Research-informed Teaching at the University of Central Lancashire was also interviewed about Shakespeare’s influence.  

Owners Janet and John Ford said: “of course, if Richard III had won the Battle of Bosworth instead of Henry Tudor, our Tudor World museum at 40 Sheep Street might now be called ‘Plantagenet World’ instead”.

For further information or to set up an interview or take photos please contact:
Janet or John Ford – 01789 298070, info@falstaffexperience.co.uk