Exhumation and reburial of Richard III of England at the battle of Bosworth." The project gained the backing of several key partners—Leicester City Council, Leicester Promotions (responsible for tourist marketing), the University of Leicester, Leicester Cathedral, Darlow Smithson Productions (responsible for the planned TV show) and the Richard III Society. Funding for the initial phase of pre-excavation research came from the Richard III Society's bursary fund and members of the "Looking for Richard" project, with Leicester Promotions agreeing to pick up the £35,000 cost of the dig. The University of Leicester Archaeological Services—an independent body with offices at the university—was appointed as the project's archaeological contractor. In March
Ricardian (Richard III) their services to "the Exhumation and Identification of Richard III" (London Gazette) in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours. The Foundation is a non-for-profit §501(c)(3) educational organization. The aims of the Foundation are to study, share and stimulate interest in the life and times of King Richard III and the Wars of the Roses. The Richard III Foundation, Inc. is the only Ricardian organization which directly asserts that its aim is to vindicate Richard. Its website states, "The Foundation seeks to challenge the popular view of King Richard III by demonstrating through rigorous scholarship that the facts of Richard’s life and