A LEGAL process led by campaigners to have Richard III’s remains reburied in York looks set to begin next week.

Fifteen of his family’s descendants, calling themselves The Plantagenet Alliance, hope to launch a judicial review against the decisions leading to his remains being exhumed and potentially reinterred in Leicester, it was announced yesterday.

They argue a public consultation should have taken place before any decisions were made over where to bury Richard III.

Legal papers are due to be lodged to the High Court next week – which will require a reponse from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the University of Leicester – and will seek permission for a judicial review to go ahead.

Matthew Howarth, partner at Leeds law firm Gordons and lawyer for the Plantagenet Alliance, said: “This is the last Plantagenet King of England, the last king to die in battle.

“We say any decision about where an important King of England should be interred should not be the decision of a university department and the Department of Justice.

“It’s a pity debate was not conducted before the decision to bury the bones in Leicester was taken.”

The MoJ ruled last autumn that University of Leicester archaeologists could unearth remains from below a local council car park to ascertain whether they were those of Richard III.

The MoJ allowed the university to decide where the bones should be reburied, and a reinterment is planned for Leicester Cathedral next year.

But Richard’s descendants say the MoJ’s failure to consult them breached Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which grants the right to respect for private and family life.