KR3 Leicester, England

Overview
King Richard III of England (1452–1485) was the last Plantagenet king and the final ruler of the House of York. His reign lasted from 1483 until his death at the Battle of Bosworth Field on August 22, 1485, where he was defeated by Henry Tudor (Henry VII). His death marked the end of the Wars of the Roses and the beginning of the Tudor dynasty.  The Plantagenets descended from Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy. Henry II became the first Plantagenet King of England in 1154.

His descendant Richard had a very distinctive trait—scoliosis—to the point where his right shoulder was higher than his left. He was also described, at age 32, as a fine-boned hunchback with a withered arm and a limp. This, in addition to his slim build and his battle injuries, led investigators to believe, and later confirm through mitochondrial DNA matching, that the skeleton discovered in Leicester was indeed Richard. The identification process combined multiple lines of evidence, including archaeological, osteological, and radiocarbon dating, in addition to DNA and genealogy. Scientists estimated that they were 99% certain that they had found Richard III.

After his death, Richard’s body was taken to Leicester and buried in Grey Friars Abbey. Over time, the location of his grave was lost due to urban development. In 2012, archaeologists from the University of Leicester, in collaboration with the Richard III Society, excavated a car park believed to be the site of the abbey and discovered a skeleton with scoliosis, matching descriptions of Richard’s physical condition.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing was initially used to identify Richard III by comparing his mtDNA to that of current individuals matrilineally descended from his sister, Anne of York. The mtDNA was rare, matching exactly in one case and differing by only one mutation in another. Among more than 26,000 European sequences, Richard’s mtDNA was highly unusual, with the chances of a random match estimated at about 1 in 10,000.

In regard to Richard III's paternal lineage, 23 Y-DNA STR markers were obtained from his DNA sample and matched with known makers from modern DNA databases. According to NEVGEN, Richard's likely haplogroup is G-PF3293, a subclade of G-M406 which is associated with Bronze Age Anatolian and Iron Age migrations into Europe. Further analysis of these STR markers by Göran Runström, a developer at FamilyTreeDNA specializing in genetic genealogy tools, identifies the closest matches at 20 or 23 STRs, as falling within the deeper branch G-M201>L89>L156>P15>L125>S30>M406>PF3299>PF3293>PF3296>Z30814>FGC4147>S11415. Runström notes that while he would cautiously guess G-S11415 as the specific subclade, he feels comfortable assigning only up to G-L30 (an upstream branch with abundant matches in its subclades M406 and L14) given the limited number of STR markers and some uncertain values (e.g., DYS643 and DYS385a/b).

One of the most intriguing findings from the genetic study was the discovery that Richard III's Y-DNA did not match with the living descendants of another paternal branch the Plantagenet family, the Somersets. Multiple descendants of Henry Somerset were tested for comparison which confidently established the Somerset line as haplogroup R1b-U152. Ultimately this suggests the potential of a non-paternal event (NPE) in the male lineage of either Richard the III's House of York or the Somerset family. Where this break in direct father-to-son inheritance occurred is a hotly debated issue.

Both Richard III's line as well as the Somerset line both trace back to King Edward III (1312–1377).  The split between the two branches occurs with two of King Edward III's sons. Richard III’s line, known as the House of York springs from King Edward's son Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (1341–1402). Edmund’s grandson, Richard, 3rd Duke of York (1411–1460), became a key figure in the Wars of the Roses. His son, Edward IV (1442–1483), became King of England, founding the House of York. Edward IV’s brother was Richard III (1452–1485), the last Yorkist king.

King Edward III had another son, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (1340–1399).  John of Gaunt had an illegitimate son, John Beaufort (1373–1410), later legitimized but barred from royal succession. The Beaufort line continued through Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset and his illegitimate son, Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester. This male line became the Somerset family, and some of their descendants were tested for Y-DNA to compare with Richard III.

The paper discussing these findings, “Identification of the remains of King Richard III” by Turi King et al., highlights the potential historical implications of the NPE. If the break occurred between Edward III (1312–1377) and his son John of Gaunt, it would mean that Henry IV and his direct descendants, including the Tudor dynasty, had no legitimate claim to the throne. This would have implications in modern times as Henry Somerset, 12th Duke of Beaufort, is currently considered the head of House Plantagenet. Alternatively, if the NPE happened in the line leading to Richard III, it would affect the legitimacy of the House of York and Richard himself in the annals of history.

It is worthwhile to note that historical rumors already questioned John of Gaunt's paternity, with some claiming he was the son of a Flemish butcher rather than Edward III. The presence of multiple known illegitimate births in the Somerset line adds further complexity to the question. Given a conservative false paternity rate of 1-2% per generation, scientists estimated a 16% probability of an NPE occurring in the generations separating King Richard III and the Somerset men.

Purely looking at the number of generations, meaning the number of opportunities for the genetic break to occur, there were three opportunities between King Richard III and his great-great-grandfather, King Edward III, and there were fourteen opportunities between Henry Somerset and King Edward III, making it more likely that the NPE occurred in the Somerset line.

The absence of another known Plantagenet male-line descendant makes it difficult to determine the true Plantagenet Y-DNA haplogroup without further exhumations. While Richard III’s Y-DNA belongs to haplogroup G-PF3293 (refined by Runström's STR analysis to likely G-S11415 under G-L30), making it a strong contender for the Y-DNA haplogroup of the Plantagenet dynasty, the possibility remains that the original family lineage could have belonged to R1b-U152 or another haplogroup. Unless another confirmed male descendant of the Plantagenet line is found, the true Y-DNA profile of the dynasty remains uncertain