Philippa Jayne Langley (born 29 June 1962) is a British writer, producer, and Ricardian, who is best known for her role in the discovery and exhumation of Richard III in 2012 (the ''Looking for Richard'' project), for which she was awarded an MBE. Langley has written books, and appeared in film-length documentaries, on the subject of the search for

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Bat ...

, as well as being portrayed in the 2022 drama film, '' The Lost King''.

Early life

Langley was born in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and at the age of two moved with her parents to Blackwell, in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underw ...

, England. In Darlington, she attended

Hummersknott School Hummersknott Academy is a secondary school in Darlington in the north east of England. It schools approximately 1,250 pupils aged eleven to sixteen. It has had specialist Language College status since 2005 and holds accreditations for Artsmar ...

, and Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, and embarked on a career in marketing, eventually settling in Edinburgh.

''Looking for Richard'' project

Langley's interest in

began in 1998, when she read American historian

Paul Murray Kendall Paul Murray Kendall (March 1, 1911 – November 21, 1973) was an American academic and historian, who taught for over 30 years at Ohio University and then, after his retirement, at the University of Kansas. Biography Kendall was born in Philade ...

's biography of the King, saying: "... it just blew me away. I thought, this is a man whose real story has never been told on screen, never". Langley had been diagnosed with ME and had abandoned her job in marketing to write a screenplay about Richard III more aligned with historians such as Kendall. Langley formed the Scottish branch of the

Richard III Society Ricardians are people interested in altering the posthumous reputation of King Richard III of England (reigned 1483–1485). Richard III has long been portrayed unfavourably, most notably in William Shakespeare's play ''Richard III'', in which R ...

. In May 2004, she visited various sites in Leicester associated with Richard III, including the three car-parks identified in 1975 as possible burial locations. Langley entered the Social Services car park, and at the northern end felt a "strange sensation" come over her, saying "I knew in my innermost being that Richard's body lay there". In 2005, on completing her first draft, she returned to the car park and experienced the same feeling; when she looked down, someone had painted a reserved "R" over the space; she recounted "it told me all I needed to know". In 2005, Langley engaged with Dr.

John Ashdown-Hill Louis John Frederick Ashdown-Hill MBE FSA (5 April 1949 – 18 May 2018), commonly known as John Ashdown-Hill, was an independent historian and author of books on late medieval English history with a focus on the House of York and Richard III o ...

, who had traced Richard's

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

to a living descendant in Canada, thus enabling the identification of any remains. A 2007 dig that failed to find

Greyfriars Greyfriars, Grayfriars or Gray Friars is a term for Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, in particular, the Conventual Franciscans. The term often refers to buildings or districts formerly associated with the order. Former Friaries * Greyfriars, Bed ...

, a possible burial site, prompted further research by Langley, Ashdown-Hill, and independently by

Annette Carson Annette Josephine Carson is a British non-fiction author specialising in history, biography and aviation, with a particular interest in King Richard III. Since 2002 she has also been an advocate for UK state pension parity for UK expatriates. ...

, that narrowed the location of Greyfriars to the Social Services car park. In February 2009, at the Cramond Inn in Edinburgh, Langley formed the ''Looking for Richard'' project to get the car park excavated, with Dr. David and Wendy Johnson, and later Ashdown-Hill and Carson, and chair of the Richard III Society, Dr. Phil Stone. In late 2010, Langley won the backing of

Leicester City Council Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city, overseen by a directly elected mayor. It is currently control ...

(LCC) CEO Sheila Lock on the basis that Langley would organize a television documentary to promote Leicester's association with Richard III, and that if any remains were found, they would be buried in

Leicester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Martin, Leicester, commonly known as Leicester Cathedral, is a Church of England cathedral in Leicester, England and the seat of the Bishop of Leicester. The church was elevated to a collegiate church in 192 ...

. LCC would not provide direct funding, but as owners of the car park they were able to approve and license the excavations, and introduce Langley to local state sponsors, particularly Leicester Promotions. Langley contracted the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) to do the excavations. In August 2011, inconclusive

ground penetrating radar Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. It is a non-intrusive method of surveying the sub-surface to investigate underground utilities such as concrete, asphalt, metals, pipes, cables ...

results led to withdrawals of sponsorship. Langley led an online

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by cro ...

appeal to worldwide Richard III Society members, who filled the gap and provided £17,367 of the £32,867 cost for the 2-week excavation. On 25 August 2012, the 527th anniversary of Richard III's death, ULAS dug the first trench over the "R" mark, and after a few hours, discovered a skeleton that turned out to be the remains of Richard III.

Fall-out with the University of Leicester

On 4 February 2013, the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

presented their results to the world's press (they had funded a 3rd week of excavations, and led the DNA confirmation using Ashton-Hill's work). Langley felt "sidelined" at the presentation, while the University presented itself as "leading" the search (despite their earlier skepticism). ULAS kept Langley's name off the exhumation licence, even though she was their client; this also gave the University of Leicester control of the remains but inadvertently enabled a legal action by the Plantagenet Alliance that lasted several years. In late 2022, the situation flared up with the release of '' The Lost King'', a dramatisation of Langley's search. At the film's release, screenwriter

Stephen Frears Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accola ...

said: "They he Universityput a poster on the side of a bus saying 'We found the king!'", and "Well, Leicester University is a corporation and this is really about corporatism". The University issued statements refuting aspects of the dramatisation in the film, while Langley, and the film's producers, issued their own rebuttals, with Frears saying: "nothing has turned up yet which makes me think we got something wrong". The Richard III Society released a statement in support of the film, including the recognition of Langley and Ashdown-Hill's roles in the discovery, and the recognition of the importance of the financial commitment that worldwide members of the Society made to the success of the project.

Other projects

In 2014, Langley started a project to locate the remains of

Henry I of England Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in ...

, who was buried at

Reading Abbey Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, m ...

, but which later fell into ruin, which became the "Hidden Abbey Project". In 2020, Langley said that she believed that the grave of Henry I was beneath the western car park of the former Reading gaol. In 2021,

Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer Charles Edward Maurice Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, (born 20 May 1964), styled Viscount Althorp between 1975 and 1992, is a British peer, author, journalist, and broadcaster. He is the younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, and is the mate ...

joined the crowdfunding programme to begin excavating the site. In 2022, Langley was reported to be leading a "Missing Princes Project" to discover the fate of the Princes in the Tower.

As writer and producer

From August 2011 to February 2013, Langley acted as associate producer of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

documentary film, ''Richard III: The King in the Car Park''. It won the 2013

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

award for History, and was nominated for the 2014 BAFTA award for Specialist Factual. The film was the highest rated specialist factual documentary in Channel 4's history, and led to the folllow up short-documentary film, ''Richard III: The Unseen Story''. In 2013, Langely co-authored with military historian Michael K. Jones, ''The King's Grave: The Search for Richard III'' (the first edition was published in New York with the title ''The King’s Grave: The Discovery of Richard III's Lost Burial Place and the Clues It Holds''). In 2013, it was reported that Langley hoped her completed screenplay on Richard III would become a film, with Richard portrayed by English actor Richard Armitage. She had titled her screenplay, ''Blood Royal'', and based it on ''Bosworth 1485: Psychology of a Battle'', by Michael K. Jones. In 2014, Langley detailed the years of research behind the ''Looking For Richard'' project that took her to the northern end of the car park in Leicester in search of the church and grave in ''Finding Richard III: The Official Account of Research by the Retrieval & Reburial Project''. The co-authored work includes chapters from ''Looking For Richard'' project members,

and David and Wendy Johnson, and was edited by

. In 2022, Langley and Jones re-wrote and expanded their 2013 book under the new title, ''The Lost King: The Search for Richard III''. It was released alongside the film, '' The Lost King'', with

Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, whi ...

and Jeff Pope writing the screenplay, and Sally Hawkins playing Langley.

Personal life

Langley is diagnosed with

chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing core symptoms are ...

(or ME), which is so severe that she had to spend days building up her "sleep-bank" before making excursions to Leicester while researching locations for Richard III's remains. She was married but later separated from inventor-husband John Langley, with whom they have two sons. In 2022, Steve Coogan, who plays John Langley in ''The Lost King'' said "... they've got a very interesting relationship because they're not married anymore, but they both still love each other, and they're still in each other's lives", and "I've never seen that depicted on screen before. ... and I wanted to just show that."

Awards and honours

* In June 2015, Langley was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2015 Birthday Honours The 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

for "services to the exhumation and identification of Richard III"; her colleague

was also recognised with an MBE at the same time. * In March 2015,

dedicated the poem ''Richard'' that they had commissioned from the poet laureate,

Carol Ann Duffy Dame Carol Ann Duffy (born 23 December 1955) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, resigning in 2019. She was the first ...

, and which was read by Benedict Cumberbatch at King Richard III's burial, to Langley. * In April 2014, a blue plaque was erected at the Cramond Inn to mark where Langley created the ''Looking for Richard'' project on 21 February 2009. * In March 2013, she was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the Richard III Society. * In October 2012, she was awarded the Robert Hamblin Award by the Richard III Society.

In film

* Langley featured, and acted as co-producer, in the 2013

award-winning documentary film, ''Richard III: The King in the Car Park''. * Langley featured, and acted as co-producer, in the 2013

follow-up short documentary film, ''Richard III: The Unseen Story''. * Langley was played by Sally Hawkins in the 2022 comedy-drama film, '' The Lost King'', a dramatisation of her search for Richard III.

Bibliography

* * * *

Notes

References

External links

* *
''Looking for Richard'' Search Team

(2022)
VIDEO: The King's Grave, interview with authors Philippa Langley and Michael Jones

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publishe ...

(September 2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Langley, Philippa Jayne Living people 1962 births People from Darlington People educated at Hummersknott Academy Richard III of England Members of the Order of the British Empire People with chronic fatigue syndrome British women historians Women medievalists Writers from Darlington British women non-fiction writers 21st-century British women writers 21st-century British historians British women film producers