Geoffrey Boycott claims Leicester wants Richard III to 'make money'
Yorkshireman and cricket commentator Geoffrey Boycott claims Leicestershire only wants to reinter the body of King Richard III to make money.
Speaking on Test Match Special during India's capitulation at Old Trafford, Boycott said the county had "pinched our Yorkshire king".
The former England batsman went on to say he should be returned to Yorkshire.
But Jonathan Agnew, commentating with him, stuck up for Leicestershire, the county where he lives.
The pair were speaking during the Fourth Test between England and India at Old Trafford, shortly before the eighth wicket fell on Saturday.
They had been discussing King Lear and Shakespeare when Boycott made the outburst.
"Your lot pinched our king, our Yorkshire king. Your lot in Leicestershire where you live," he claimed.
"Pinched his bones."
But Agnew, a former Leicestershire cricketer, defended the decision saying: "I don't think so, he died there, poor chap."
To which Boycott responded: "Well then, send him back. He's king of Yorkshire not Leicestershire."
He went on to claim Leicester only wanted to keep the body to attract money to the city.
The conversation in full
Geoffrey Boycott: "Your lot pinched our king, our Yorkshire king. Your lot in Leicestershire where you live."
Jonathan Agnew: "Richard III?"
GB: "Yeah, pinched his bones."
JA: "I don't think so, he died there, poor chap."
GB: "Well then, send him back. He's king of Yorkshire not Leicestershire."
JA: "He has been quite happy there under a car park for hundreds of years."
GB: "Yeah, you only kept him so you can make money, people looking at him. He is king of Yorkshire."
JA: "It will be a very moving ceremony at Leicester Cathedral. He deserves to be laid to rest."
GB: "Yeah, you kept him for the money."
Listen again: England v India
The discussion was only brought to an end when Bhuvneshwar Kumar was run out, described by Boycott as "irresponsibly stupid".
King Richard III, who was Duke of Gloucester before he ascended the throne, was the last king to be killed in battle.
His death at the battle of Bosworth, near Leicester, effectively ended the Wars of the Roses.
His remains were discovered under a car park in Leicester and later confirmed to be his after a DNA test.
Distant relatives of the king contested the decision to reinter his remains in Leicester Cathedral, claiming he would have wanted to be buried in Yorkshire, where he lived for several years as a child.
But he will be buried after a week-long ceremony in Leicester Cathedral next year, opposite a Richard III visitor's centre.