He was the despised ‘crookback’ king of Tudor legend, a murderous stage villain whose brief reign went down in infamy. Yet with the 2012 discovery of his mutilated remains in a Leicester car park, Richard III’s reputation has been transformed. And starting today comes a remarkable national celebration for the last English king to fall in battle. From the embroidered linen bags containing his tiny hands and feet, to the simple tomb carved in Swaledale rock, the five days of ceremony are packed with thought-provoking detail. Scroll down for video . Family connection: Coffin-maker Michael Ibsen, who is a distant relative of Richard III, alongside a reconstruction of the King . His final journey will start at 1.05pm today close to Bosworth Field where he was killed in 1485 before ending at Leicester Cathedral, where our last Plantagenet king will lie in repose until his burial on Thursday. Richard will be attended by his closest living relatives and peers descended from the noblemen who fought at Bosworth. The Queen will be represented by the Countess of Wessex and the Duke of Gloucester. Richard of York, who lost his crown to Lancastrian Henry Tudor, has been vilified as a tyrant. But many historians now regard him as a typical king in turbulent times. His skeleton had a large hole in the skull, and crucially, a curved spine, which is consistent with reports that Richard had a hunched back. Bosworth peer: The Earl and Countess of Derby. His ancestor changed the course of battle . Modern DNA analysis confirmed the remains were Richard’s. And this week’s tribute will truly be fit for a king. RICHARD'S ROUTE FROM BOSWORTH TO HIS FINAL RESTING PLACE . 11.00am . 1.05pm . Crown jewels: Richard's funeral crown, which will be laid to rest with his remains at Leicester Cathedral . 1.20pm . 1.55pm . Dominic Smee, of Channel 4's documentary Richard III: The New Evidence, is among the VIPs . 2.15pm . 3.40pm . Respectful: Richard III will lie in repose for three days in Leicester Cathedral (left). The lead ossuary into which the remains of King Richard III will be placed (right) 4.15pm . 6.00pm . Star: Benedict Cumberbatch, who is Richard’s nephew 17 times removed, as Richard III in The Hollow Crown . HIS FINAL RESTING PLACE . The tomb is made of slick modern Swaledale fossil stone block, deeply incised with a simple cross slashed into the stone (pictured is the final design for the tomb) The route Richard will take from Bosworth Field (left) to Leicester Castle and the timings, and a closer look at the finishing location (right)
Five day celebration for the last English king to fall in battle begins today . Final journey begins at Bosworth Field and ends at Leicester Cathedral . Richard will be buried on Thursday after he's attended by living relatives . DNA analysis confirmed remains found in car park in 2012 were Richard’s . Richard III’s coffin leaves Leicester University for Bosworth Field in a black Jaguar hearse, escorted by four police outriders and limousines, to start the preliminary leg of its journey. The oak coffin was made by Michael Ibsen, Richard’s nephew 17 times removed, whose family’s DNA was used to identify the King’s skeleton. The bones have been packed in wool and Richard’s hands and feet have been placed in linen bags, embroidered with roses by children at Leicester’s Richard III Primary School. With the King is a wooden rosary, emblazoned with an enamelled White Rose. The skeleton is covered by a raw linen cloth, embroidered with York roses, by Elizabeth Noakes, of the Richard III Society. The cortege officially departs Fen Lane farm. Close to Bosworth, this is where the battle was actually fought on August 22, 1485. Here Richard lost his crown and his life, when his army of 8,000 men was beaten by the Lancastrians, led by Henry Tudor. Archaeologists found more than 20 medieval cannon balls on the site. The cortege will be joined by two knightly figures on horseback in 15th Century armour. They include Dr Tobias Capwell, curator of arms and armour at the Wallace Collection. Richard’s body arrives at St James’ Church at Dadlington for prayers. Here many of the dead of Bosworth are buried. Henry VII paid for a chancery in the church. Following the cortege is the 19th Earl of Derby, descendant of Lord Stanley, Richard’s Lord High Constable of England. He swung the battle by changing sides to support Henry, with his 3,000 men. Richard miscalculated Stanley’s loyalty – surprising since Stanley was married to Henry Tudor’s mother. ‘Stanley had by far the largest army on the field,’ said Lord Derby. ‘But he was in a very difficult position. The pillow talk was all about helping Henry. Richard took Stanley’s eldest son hostage and threatened to kill him. But Stanley said, “Sire, I have other sons.” Luckily, Richard never got the chance to behead him.’
After the battle, Stanley retrieved Richard III’s crown from a hedge and crowned Henry VII on the battlefield. Henry rewarded him by making him Earl of Derby, calling him ‘right dearly beloved father’. Lord Derby is one of the ten ‘Bosworth peers’, whose ancestors fought at the battle, who will follow the coffin later today. The cortege stops at St James’ Church, Sutton Cheney, where Richard heard his last Mass before battle. While his army camped the night before the battle on Ambien Hill, above Fenland Field, the King is said to have spent his last night on earth at Sutton Cheney Manor, which no longer exists. Among the VIPs will be Dominic Smee, of Channel 4’s documentary Richard III: The New Evidence. By an enormous coincidence, Smee also suffers from scoliosis, the curvature of the spine that led Shakespeare to call Richard ‘a poisonous, bunch-backed toad’. Dominic learned to ride and fight in a specially made suit of armour  and proved Richard could have been the great warrior of repute and that his scoliosis was hardly apparent when clothed. Richard arrives at the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre where the coffin will be transferred to a wheeled bier. Covered with Richard’s Royal Standard, escorted by the two knightly riders, it will be drawn to the top of Ambien Hill for a Service of Commemoration. As well as invited VIPs, more than 2,000 people have bought tickets for the event. Battlefield re-enactment society members will have held a dawn vigil in medieval dress. There will be exhibitions of medieval warfare, falconry, cooking and other aspects of medieval life. There will be a minute’s silence, then a 21-gun salute from eight medieval cannons. ‘It’s about reconciliation for the dead of both sides,’ said the Heritage Centre’s Richard Knox. ‘And to allow Richard to return from the battlefield with the dignity and honour that he was denied in 1485.’
The Battlefield Beacon will be lit – and it will burn until Richard is buried. The coffin is transferred back to his hearse. The knightly outriders salute their King, as the motorised procession sets off for Leicester. The procession follows the route Richard took in 1485, through Market Bosworth, including crossing into Leicester over Bow Bridge – over which Richard led his troops to battle. Legend says his spur struck the bridge, and an old crone prophesied his head would hit the same stone. On his return, Richard was slung naked over a horse, his hands tied together. Legend says that his broken skull did hit the same stone on the bridge. Trauma to his skeleton’s pelvic bone showed that someone stabbed him in the bottom. Richard’s procession arrives back in Leicester, over Bow Bridge, across which he led his troops 530 years ago. The coffin will be transported into the medieval St Nicholas Church, where prayers will be said. The coffin will then be transferred to a gun carriage drawn by four black horses and driven by a driver in traditional dress. Accompanying them will be Jenny Gilbert, of undertakers Adkinsons. ‘We’re not having plumes or drapes,’ says Jenny. ‘It’s going to be simple. People said, “It’s not going to look like the Krays, is it?” ’Richard’s cortege will then make its way to Leicester Cathedral. The remains of England’s last Plantagenet King will arrive at Leicester Cathedral. His cortege, flanked by the two knights in armour, will be escorted into the cathedral by the ‘Bosworth peers’. The White Rose of York peers are the 18th of Norfolk, back from a family skiing holiday for the occasion; the 6th Baron Grey of Codnor; the Duke of Rutland; the 19th Viscount Hereford; and the Hon James Stourton, representing his brother, the 27th Baron Mowbray. The Lancastrian Red Rose peers are the Earl of Derby; the 6th Baron Raglan; 29th Baron Herbert; 11th Earl De La Warr; and representatives of the 18th Earl of Devon and 8th Baroness Bray. ‘We’ve got Red Rose and White Rose, for Lancaster and York, because this service is about reconciliation,’ said the Dean, the Very Reverend David Monteith. The coffin will be borne by members of the Armed Forces, including two senior NCOs from the 1st Regiment Prince of Wales, 1st Battalion Regiment of Fusiliers, and Royal Warrant officer first class from the Scots Guards. Originally the Bosworth peers were going to carry the coffin – ‘but it’s lead-lined, so we thought it was too heavy,’ said a cathedral spokesman. The sermon will be given by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, as Richard was a Catholic. More than 14,000 people from all over the world applied for the ticket ballot for the service. The 600-strong congregation is split between invited guests and the ballot winners. Those attending will include Wendy Daldig, Richard’s Australian niece 17 times removed. Her DNA, along with Michael Ibsen’s, was used to identify the King. Richard’s remains in his coffin will lie in repose in the cathedral from today until Thursday so that members of the public may pay their respects. On Thursday at 11am, England’s last Plantagenet King will be reburied in a service conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Queen will be represented by the Countess of Wessex. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester will also be present, as will the ‘Bosworth peers’, the original ten now swollen by other Plantagenet courtier families, including the Duke of St Albans and Lord Scrope. Many others whose ancestors fought at Bosworth have been invited too after they were tracked down by Leicester University’s Professor Kevin Schurer. It is hoped that actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who is Richard’s nephew 17 times removed and who will be playing the King in the BBC’s forthcoming series of The Hollow Crown, will be at the service. Richard will then be laid in a specially dug crypt in the centre of the cathedral, behind the altar. Overnight, his tomb, designed by the architects van Heinigen and Harward, will be constructed. The tomb is made of slick modern Swaledale fossil stone block, deeply incised with a simple cross slashed into the stone. On top of a slab of black polished granite, carved with Richard’s boar badge, his coat of arms, is his motto ‘Loyaulte me lie’ – Loyalty binds me. White Roses of York have been set into the floor tiles around the tomb.