Thousands of Britons view Richard III's coffin before reburial

LEICESTER, UK - Thousands queued up on Monday to pay their respects to King Richard III of England, whose remains were found in a car park over 500 years after his death and will be reburied this week.

Vilified by William Shakespeare and generations of Britons since being killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, Richard's reputation is now being rehabilitated, with queues of up to four hours to see his coffin at Leicester Cathedral in central England.

That came after some 35,000 people lined the streets to view his funeral cortege Sunday, ahead of Thursday's final burial at the cathedral.

"People are giving him a wonderful, warm reception, I think they've learned more about who he was as opposed to the parody," Wendy Duldig, a distant relative of Richard III, said. "They're giving him a pretty good send-off, and I think he deserves that."