If you aren’t from the UK then you probably haven’t heard the news.
Richard the III’s body was discovered under a car park by accident. The ex-monarch is infamous due to his association with the mneumonic and also because of his involvement in the War of the Roses (And he was very very Game of Thrones).
It’s an interesting little tale if you fancy a read.
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glodson
February 4, 2013 at 11:08 PM (UTC 5.5) Link to this comment
I hadn’t heard that. But it was an interesting read. That was… well, much better than current reporting on the modern British Monarchy.
Marcus Ranum
February 4, 2013 at 11:36 PM (UTC 5.5) Link to this comment
Sic semper transit gloria mundi.
Avicenna
February 4, 2013 at 11:40 PM (UTC 5.5) Link to this comment
Semper fidelis tyrannosaurus
shouldbeworking
February 5, 2013 at 12:03 AM (UTC 5.5) Link to this comment
Actually, he wasn’t much of a tyrant or a dinosaur, according to the BBC. He did come up with the concept of bail, required that taxes be approved by both Houses of Parliament, and had laws written in English for the commoners to understand.
Bloody radical. Must’ve been born in Kenya.
Don Quijote
February 5, 2013 at 12:05 AM (UTC 5.5) Link to this comment
Always refered to as Richard the Turd or Dick the Shit when I was at school.
A Hermit
February 5, 2013 at 1:56 AM (UTC 5.5) Link to this comment
Been following this story for a while; lots of interest on the CBC due to the Canadian connection…http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/02/04/england-king-richard-remains-identified.html?cmp=rss
AsqJames
February 5, 2013 at 3:50 AM (UTC 5.5) Link to this comment
@Don Quijote,
I wonder if that’s a back-formation from the rhyming slang: Richard the Third = Turd.
He’s also slang for an embarrassingly bad undergraduate degree, as in “At University James partied so much he left with a Richard,” i.e. a 3rd class degree. Erm…not me obviously. I meant another James. Actually I think his name was Peter.
@shouldbeworking,
Well those are plus points I suppose, but they do need to be set against (allegedly) having his nephews (the “Princes in the Tower”) disappeared so he could assume the throne for himself.
Cuttlefish
February 5, 2013 at 6:19 AM (UTC 5.5) Link to this comment
The University of Leicester website for the project has some excellent information:
http://www.le.ac.uk/richardiii/index.html
Gregory in Seattle
February 5, 2013 at 10:18 AM (UTC 5.5) Link to this comment
A Black Adder joke (from the first series.)
Counterpane
February 5, 2013 at 8:34 PM (UTC 5.5) Link to this comment
Hmm, interesting. I’ve always believed that the ROYGBIV mnemonic refered to Richard’s father, Richard, duke of York (who was killed in battle at Wakefield). The older Richard was the originator of the Yorkist party during the Wars of the Roses but never actually ascended to the throne – thus giving battle in vain.