DNA Testing Richard III

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]This curved spine and the damage to the skull was a big sign that they had just found Richard III. When the king of England, Richard III, was thrown into his grave 500 years ago, it started one of the biggest mysteries of all time. In order to really prove it was him, the team had to use every modern technique imaginable. One method was to take DNA from the skeleton and see if it matched with a known descendant of Richard III.

[00:00:27]One of the best chances was to look for the mitochondrial DNA. But this type of DNA only gets passed down by mothers.

[00:00:34]And so the team had to hope that there was an unbroken line of female generations that led all the way to Richard III. Amazingly, there was. By looking instead at Richard III's sister, they were able to track down 16 generations of females, all the way to a woman called Joy Brown. Sadly, she had passed away, but her son, Michael Ipsson, was still alive. The same DNA that Richard got from his mother should also have been passed down to Michael Ipsson. But if just one of these points in the family tree was incorrect, it would throw the whole thing off. And so, to make it more certain, they traced down another line of females, which led to a woman called Wendy. By comparing her DNA with Michael's, they were able to confirm that they were both related to each other and therefore direct descendants of Richard III's