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Historians have unveiled what they believe to be the face of King Richard III.

The facial reconstruction of the monarch is based on a CT scan taken by experts at the University of Leicester, who discovered the king's skeleton during an archaeological dig last September.

Historian and author John Ashdown-Hill said that the model was so lifelike that it was "almost like being face to face with a real person".

He said that the face had a prominent chin and slightly arched nose - similar features shown in portraits of Richard III painted after his death.

(Image: University of Leicester / Channel 4)

In a Channel 4 documentary last night Richard III Society member Philippa Langley, originator of the search, said: "It doesn't look like the face of a tyrant. I'm sorry but it doesn't.

"He's very handsome. It's like you could just talk to him, have a conversation with him right now."

Computer software added layers of muscle and skin to the scan of the skull and the image was then given to a sculptor to construct the three-dimensional plastic model.

Dr Ashdown-Hill said: "I had said previously that when I stood by the grave in Leicester that I felt closer to Richard III than I had ever been, but when I saw the facial reconstruction I realised I had been close to a dead Richard III.

"It was just bones, just a body, whereas confronting a facial reconstruction, I felt almost in the presence of a living Richard III."

(Image: Getty)

Dr Ashdown-Hill explained that the reconstruction was particularly important because there are no surviving contemporary portraits of Richard III.

He added: "All the surviving portraits of him - even the very later ones with humped backs and things which were obviously later additions - facially are quite similar [to each other] so it has always been assumed that they were based on a contemporary portrait painted in his lifetime or possibly several portraits painted in his lifetime."

King Richard III's skeleton was found in the remains of the choir of the Greyfriars church, which now lies under a social services car park in the city.

The dramatic discovery was made after a screenwriter researching a play about the monarch “felt a chill” and was immediately convinced the royal was buried there.

DNA tests taken from the skeleton, which has a curved spine, or “hunchback”, match two of his living descendants.

Experts began digging the site last September after Philippa Langley visited the car park in August 2009.

She said: “It was a hot summer and I had goosebumps so badly and I was freezing cold. I walked past a particular spot and absolutely knew I was walking on his grave.

“I am a rational human being but the feeling I got was the same feeling I have had before when a truth is given to me.

"On a subsequent visit, I found a little white ‘R’ painted on the exact same spot. Of course it was ‘R’ for ‘reserved’, not ‘R’ for Richard but from that moment on, I was on a mission.”

She was so sure, she began funding the dig, which has now changed history.

(Image: REUTERS)

The king’s 500-year-old remains feature fatal skull wounds he sustained at the bloody Battle of Bosworth.

His skeleton also has a distinctive scoliosis of the spine and had a metal arrowhead in its back.

Experts believe one of the King’s shoulders was higher than the other, consistent with descriptions of him having a hunchback.

They even found evidence he was stabbed through the right buttock after his death aged 32 in 1485 by his jubilant enemy.

Delighted archaeologists said the discovery in the car park in Leicester was “truly astonishing”.

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The Battle of Bosworth was the last act of the War of the Roses and saw the king defeated by Henry Tudor, who became King Henry VII.

According to records, Richard III was buried after the battle at a church called Grey Friars, which it is believed was on the site of the car park.

The medieval skeleton was discovered on the first day of the three-week dig. It was exhumed from just one metre below the ground in September and tested.

Lead archaeologist Richard Buckley said the tests proved the remains were the king’s “beyond reasonable doubt”.

But he also revealed that Richard III’s skeleton was almost lost forever when a 19th Century toilet was built above its resting place.

He said: “The remains were very vulnerable because they were only under relatively modern debris.

“A 19th-Century brick outhouse came very close to destroying the grave. The feet were missing, almost certainly as a result of later disturbances.”

Just as Shakespeare described in his famous tale, the 5ft 8in skeleton shows Richard III did have a curved spine.

But another feature described by the Bard – a withered arm – proved to be false.

The hands were crossed over the front of the pelvis, indicating they were tied when he was buried.

Tests showed the man found had died between 1485 and 1550, consistent with historical records of the king’s death.

(Image: Getty)

And DNA taken from the remains was compared with that of Michael Ibsen, a descendant of Richard III’s family.

The Canadian-born furniture maker, who now lives in London, is a direct descendant of the king’s sister, Anne of York.

A match was also made between the remains and a second living person, who wished to remain anonymous.

Mr Buckley said: “It is the academic conclusion that the individual exhumed is indeed King Richard III, the last Plantagenet King of England.

"It has been an honour and privilege for all of us to be at the centre of an academic project that has had such phenomenal global interest.

“Rarely have conclusions of academic research been so eagerly awaited.”

Dr Jo Appleby, from the University of Leicester, added: “The skeletal evidence provides a highly convincing case for identification as Richard III.

“The analysis of the skeleton proved that it was an adult male but was an unusually slender, almost feminine, build for a man.

"This is in keeping with historical sources which describe Richard as being of very slender build.”

She said his death was probably caused by one of two injuries to the base of the skull, both with a bladed weapon.

Deputy registrar Richard Taylor called the find “truly astonishing”.

He added: “Today we bear witness to history.”

Brush up on your Richard III knowledge with our factfile. MP and historian Tristram Hunt asks whether Richard III was really the most evil monarch we have ever had - read his verdict here.