Today an online ballot has gone live which gives members of the public the chance to apply for seats for the re-burial of King Richard III.
In exactly 100 days a week of events will begin which will see the remains of King Richard III re-buried at Leicester Cathedral. The online ballot for 200 invitations for each of the three services at the Cathedral, went live this morning at 8:00.
One third of all the seating in the Cathedral is available and anyone, anywhere in the world can apply.
Names will be selected at random, although half of the invitations will be allocated to people who live in Leicestershire and Rutland, and half to the rest of the UK and the world.
The Very Revd David Monteith, Dean of Leicester spoke of his delight, “the big count down to March is now before us, I’m not so much thinking about Christmas but thinking about March”
“There’s been huge public interest in the Richard III story so its only appropriate that the public are able to come, secondly we are re-interring an anointed King of England and there’s always a close relationship between the general public and the monarchy and so its really important the community are here and represented really well”
“Through our ballot hundreds of people will be able to share directly in these services, along with many who will gather in Leicester and watch on giant screens, and many more who will watch on television. This unprecedented occasion requires unprecedented access of the public and we are endeavoring to ensure this as much as is practically possible.”
King Richard III’s remains were discovered under a council car park in Leicester city in 2012.
The services included in the ballot for invitations are Sunday 22 March 6.00pm, Thursday 26 March 11.30am, and Friday 27 March 12.00 noon. The Cathedral will also be open to the public from Monday to Wednesday to pay respects to Richard lll and to pray.
The ballot can be found online at www.leicestercathedral.org/ballot.
It will close at midday on 31st December and it is expected that letters will be sent out to all those to be invited in the week beginning 12th January. There are 200 seats available for each service and names will be drawn using a random selection process.
