Benedict Cumberbatch revealed as Richard III's second cousin as actor prepares to read at reinterment ceremony

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

Family tree shows actor is king’s second cousin, 16 removed

The actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who played a Royalist in To Kill a King, the 2003 Civil War film about Oliver Cromwell, has been confirmed as a distant second cousin of Richard III ahead of his reading at the reinterment ceremony for the last Plantagenet king on Thursday.

Genealogists have produced a family tree linking the Oscar nominee to the monarch, whose body was found beneath Grey Friars car park in Leicester more than two years ago. He will be reburied at the city’s cathedral.

“Benedict is Richard III’s second cousin, 16 removed,” said Professor Kevin Schürer, a University of Leicester historian.

“He is linked in several ways, but in terms of number of generations, the shortest is via Richard’s mother, Cecily Neville’s grandmother Joan Beaufort.

“He also has more in-direct links to both Queen Elizabeth II and Lady Jane Grey through other ancestors in his tree.”

Cumberbatch, who will play Richard III in a forthcoming BBC series, The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses, will read a poem by the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, during the reinterment.

Titled Richard, the 14-line poem has been described as a meditation on the impact of the archaeological discovery which sparked worldwide intrigue. It includes the line “grant me the carving of my name”, which the cathedral considers a vital aspect of his yet-to-be-revealed tomb.

“It is great that Benedict has the opportunity to take part in Thursday’s ceremony for his distant relative,” said Schürer.

“Having him there will add another dimension to what has already been a momentous week for the University of Leicester as well as the city and county.”

The actor becomes perhaps the best-known of Richard III’s relatives across the country. Dr Turi King, the geneticist at the university who helped to prove the lineage of two of the king’s second cousins during DNA testing on his remains, estimates that as many as 17 million people in the UK could also claim Richard as an ancestor.

“We are all related to Richard III in some way,” she said.

“It is simply a matter of knowing the genealogy to understand to what degree.

“This discovery of Benedict’s link to Richard is very timely as he is playing Richard III. It is great for the city that he is able to come to the reinterment service.”

• The Service of Reinterment of the Remains of King Richard III takes place at 11.30am on March 26 2015. Visit kingrichardinleicester.com.

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More from Culture24's coverage of Richard III:

Experts see Richard III's battle injuries as infirmary remains help create new skeleton

How did Richard III die? The Royal Armouries on the violent death of the King in battle

In Pictures: The archaeology and science which identified King Richard III in Leicester

Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk//history-and-heritage/archaeology/art521785-benedict-cumberbatch-revealed-as-richard-third-second-cousin-as-actor-prepares-to-read-at-reinterment-ceremony