The remains of England's King Richard III will be reburied in Leicester Cathedral in Leicestershire today, 530 years after his violent death in the Battle of Bosworth. The King's remains were recently found buried beneath a parking lot.
CNN reports that at the special "funeral", Oscar nominated actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who is believed to be a distant relative of the royal, will read a specially-written poem for the event. The 'Sherlock' star, who will soon portray Richard III in an upcoming adaptation for television, will read a poem which was written by Britain's poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy.
Details of the 14-line verse, titled "Richard," will be kept secret until the service takes place, but organizers reveal it is a "meditation on the impact of [Richard's] finding and on the legacy of his story." They also shared that it contains the phrase "grant me the carving of my name," acknowledging the fact that Richard III's grave was missing for centuries, with no tombstone to mark its location. In a statement, Duffy said it was "a privilege to be involved, in a small way" in the special event which honors the British monarch.Cumberbatch received an Oscar nomination for hi portrayal of Alan Turing in "THE IMITATION GAME" He recently earned an Emmy for his role as SHERLOCK Holmes on the BBC/PBS hit Sherlock.
The actor first performed at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park in productions such as Love's Labour's Lost (2001), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2001), and ROMEO AND JULIET (2002). He also portrayed George Tesman inRichard Eyre's revival of Hedda Gabler in 2005 and since then has starred in the Royal National Theatre productions After the Dance (2010) and Frankenstein (2011). Cumberbatch's television work includes appearances in Heartbeat (2000), Silent Witness (2002) and Fortysomething (2003) before starring as the title character in HAWKING in 2004. He has also starred in Tom Stoppard's adaptation of Parade's End (2012), as well as providing the voices of the British Prime Minister and Severus Snape on the animated series THE SIMPSONS (2013). He has played SHERLOCK Holmes in the series SHERLOCK since 2010.Videos