Judges say they will take time to decide if justice secretary is under legal duty to consult widely on where to reinter remains

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Distant relatives of Richard III will have to wait to learn the outcome of their high court battle with the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, over where the monarch's recently discovered remains should be reburied.

Relatives who make up the Plantagenet Alliance have asked three judges to rule that Grayling was under a legal duty to set up a wide-ranging public consultation exercise to decide the question.

Their counsel Gerard Clarke argued that the Queen and royal household should be at the top of the list of those consulted, and it should include the distant relatives themselves as well as members of the public.

Clarke said the issue was important as the last English king to die in battle "is not just any old bones".

Counsel for the government, James Eadie, told the court that Grayling was "under no statutory or common law duty to consult".

Lady Justice Hallett, sitting with Mr Justice Ouseley and Mr Justice Haddon-Cave, said the court would take time to consider its judgment and told the parties: "We shall let you know our decision as soon as possible."

Richard III's bones were discovered under a council car park in Leicester. The current plan is for them to be re-interred at the city's cathedral.

The monarch was killed at the battle of Bosworth in 1485 – ending the wars of the roses and the Plantagenet dynasty. His body was taken to Leicester by supporters of the victorious Henry Tudor and buried in Greyfriars church, now the site of the council car park.

The Plantagenet Alliance want the remains to be buried at York Minster, claiming that was the wish "of the last medieval king of England", who was known as Richard of York.

Clarke said in a two-day hearing the alliance would be satisfied with a wide-ranging public consultation exercise on where Richard III's final resting place should be.