Richard III is Britain’s most notorious monarch, and even 533 years after his death at the Battle of Bosworth, it’s not hard to understand why. Self-styled “Ricardians” argue that he was a loyal brother, fine soldier and astute administrator. They add that there is no actual evidence that he murdered his nephews, the so-called Princes in the Tower, who had a better claim to the throne than he did.
Set against them is William Shakespeare, who depicted Richard as a “carnal cur” and an “lump of foul deformity” who, in his pursuit...