Sophie Wessex and Benedict Cumberbatch were among the famous faces who attended the reburial service for King Richard III on Thursday. The Countess joined the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester for the historic reburial service, which was held at Leicester Cathedral.
Thousands of people lined the city streets to witness a march of honour ahead of the service, which saw the King come to his final resting place after his remains were discovered under a council car park in 2012.
© Photo: PASophie Wessex attended the reburial service for King Richard III
Sophie was dressed in a head-to-toe black outfit to pay her respects to the King, and looked solemn during a reading reflecting on the ruler's accomplishments before he died in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.
Meanwhile Benedict was given the honour of reading a poem specially written for the late ruler. The British actor was a fitting choice for the job – he has been identified as the King's third cousin, 16 times removed.
The actor looked sombre in a dark blue suit as he read the poem that was specially penned by Dame Carol Ann Duffy. The Poet Laureate was commissioned to write the poem in 2014, and it has been described as "a meditation on the impact of Richard's finding and on the legacy of his story".
© Photo: PABenedict Cumberbatch read a poem in honour of his distant relative
The 14-line piece entitled Richard includes the phrase "grant me the carving of my name", which will finally be achieved when the monarch is laid in his tomb.
When news of Benedict's involvement in the service was announced it was said he was "looking forward" to the service and had a "passion to know more" about the King. He will be playing his distant relative in an upcoming BBC Two drama, The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses, which is expected to air in 2016.
