But since early February, when Leicester University researchers announced that they had found theskeleton of King Richard III during an archaeological dig, Leicester has been besieged with visitors hoping to get a glimpse of the royal bones.
Canon Chancellor David Monteith said it was important to remember that as well as being the subject of important historical and scientific research, theskeleton also represented "the mortal remains of a person, an annointed Christian king, " and as such should be treated with dignity.