The woman who found the most hated king in England

It is said that this Richard III is some kind of monster in human form. have been. A monster like no other. He was never too good for any shameful act.

‘Deformed, neglected’ is how William Shakespeare called the English king in his play of the same name from the late 16th century. The poet placed Richard III. an unflattering self-description in his mouth:

Richard III has his cousins. was murdered to pave his way to the English throne. The fact is: Richard III died on August 22, 1485. Killed in the Battle of Bosworth during the so-called Wars of the Roses. The king thus had the dubious honor of being the last king of England to lose his life on the battlefield.

The victor of Bosworth, Henry Tudor and founder of the dynasty of the same name, naturally had little interest in confirming the good reputation of his late rival. In addition to a very bad reputation, Richard III also had one. Little is left for posterity, apparently not even human remains. Legend has it that his bones were once thrown into the River Soar after extensive desecration.

A legend that a woman named Philippa Langley in modern Britain questioned. Richard III became her obsession; she turned the search for him into a year-long mission. Currently showing is ‘The Lost King’, a film about Langley’s odyssey cinemas in this country. The lead role of Philippa Langley is played by two-time Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins.

A success that was mainly made possible because the amateur historian actually found what she was looking for in 2012. And therefore famous.

In the city of Leicester in England’s East Midlands, Langley’s team found the remains of the dead king, including under a parking lot. There had once been a church containing the remains of Richard III. was buried, without pomp and ceremony, as a monarch would actually have been dignified. News of the sensation traveled around the world, especially as a later DNA comparison with the king’s descendants removed all doubt.

But how did Philippa Langley, a working mother of two, become an amateur in the male-dominated world of historians and archaeologists searching for a king murdered centuries ago? Ultimately, rebellion was probably part of her motivation. ‘Are you serious?’ was the question that occurred to Langley as she returned from her search for Richard III. told. Followed by the common belief: ‘You’ll never find him.’ She reports this in the accompanying material for the film.

But it wasn’t just resistance, it was Langley’s sense of justice. In 1998 she first appeared in Richard III. became aware when she read a biography about the dead man. The more she looked at the person, the more she became convinced that the king had been wronged.

Shakespeare portrays the body of Richard III. as deformed, ‘deformed’, ‘neglected’, ‘lame’ and ‘limping’, and he was also hunchbacked. In his depiction, physical flaws are equated with a tendency toward evil and cruelty. Philippa Langley didn’t want to leave it like that. “I’m here today to tell you a story about a person who was treated unfairly and poorly,” Sally Hawkins, who plays Philippa Langley, tells a school class in a scene from “The Lost King.”

Langley, who suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome, has experienced unfair treatment as a result in her life. In a sense, Langley and Richard III have come full circle. Which in turn was a welcome connection for the filmmakers around director Stephen Frears.

“Somehow the king, who was vilified and had a physical deformity, and Philippa, who repeatedly reached her limits, have become absorbed in our minds,” said Jeff Pope, who co-wrote the script with Steve Coogan. By the way, Coogan can also be seen on camera in ‘The Lost King’, where he plays Langley’s husband, with whom she is divorced.

The star of the film is Sally Hawkins, who brilliantly embodies Philippa Langley with her strength, conviction and perseverance. But also in Langley’s doubts, the acceptance of failures and rejections, yes, even humiliations. However, ‘The Lost King’ is not a documentary, but a film drama. And because Langley’s search for Richard III. lasted many years, the plot is condensed in time.

In this way, Sally Hawkins as Philippa Langley achieves in a short time what the real Langley spent a significant part of her life doing: collecting scattered information, connecting it and drawing the right conclusions. Which then led them to a car park in Leicester – and to Richard III.

And so the film, which is great to watch, has a happy ending at the end. Richard III is buried, his reputation at least partially restored, while Philippa Langley was able to prove to the whole world that she was right. Less for herself, as she says. But as ‘inspiration for other people’, ‘so that they can hold on to their dream’.

Richard III’s dreams ended in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The words «A horse! A horse! “My kingdom for a horse,” said William Shakespeare in his play. But from then on, this kingdom belonged to the Tudors, who as victors rewrote history in their favor.