The Lost King: Legal action 'likely' against Richard III film

A university academic has said he is likely to take legal action against the makers of a new film about Richard III, which he said was "littered with inaccuracies".

Richard Taylor was part of the University of Leicester team that found and identified the king 10 years ago.

A character bearing his name features in the film The Lost King, starring Steve Coogan and Sally Hawkins.

But Mr Coogan has said: "The university are responsible for their own undoing."

The film, released on Friday - which was also co-written by Mr Coogan - stars Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winning Ms Hawkins in the lead role of Philippa Langley, an ordinary woman who - it says - "took on the country's most eminent historians, forcing them to think again".

It tells the story of Ms Langley, whose quest to find the remains of the last Plantagenet monarch prompted his discovery in 2012.

In its promotional material, it said it was the "remarkable, true story" of the find.

But the university said claims its staff sidelined Ms Langley and took the credit for the find are "far removed" from the truth.

Mr Taylor, former deputy registrar at the university, told the BBC he had felt "absolutely shell-shocked" by the way he was portrayed.

He said: "I think the film is inaccurate, and I think the writers have been very reckless in how they've put it together.

"Anybody who knows me knows my integrity is important to me.

"There are lots of people I have to work with who don't know me - what are they to think, seeing a film like that?"

Mr Taylor said the film-makers had not sought to speak to him at any point.

"The film is littered with inaccuracies," he said.

"It makes up a scene where I mimic Richard III's disability, and have to be told by Philippa that it's wrong to equate physical characteristics with evilness.

"That is the most hurtful personally and the most damaging reputationally. It is not true; it did not take place.

"I'd hoped my concerns would have chimed with Steve Coogan, who had his privacy invaded by newspapers over phone hacking.

"To see him on the other side of the fence now, doing this to me is quite frustrating. I feel kind of powerless in the way Steve would have felt."

Mr Taylor said he had sought to engage with the producers to get changes - including the removal of one scene and a note added to the credits that the character is not based on him - but had been refused.

"I'm trying to be reasonable," he said.

"I've tried to offer a way to bring this to a conclusion where they make some small changes.

"I have sought to engage in good faith with the producers to gain changes, but have been refused.

"Legal action is now likely."

The university - which said it funded the bulk of the excavations and subsequent research to identify the king's remains - said they were never consulted over their depiction by the film-makers.

"No University of Leicester staff were interviewed for the film," a spokesperson said.

"We offered to help the film-makers and were ignored and have the correspondence to prove it."

In a statement, it added: "We understand the portrayal of Richard Taylor in the film does not in any way resemble the reality during this period, whilst an employee of the University of Leicester.

"Our records point to a colleague engaging constructively, collegiately, fairly and professionally throughout the project."

However, Mr Coogan has told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he believed the university had "played this quite badly".

"Had they at the start been generous towards Philippa, and elevated her to the front and centre position, which is where she deserves to be, this film wouldn't have been necessary.

"But at every turn they marginalised her, edged her out, because she wasn't cut from the right cloth."

Dan Winch, the film's producer, said the filmmakers had had contact with the university, despite the institution claiming otherwise.

"We did interviews. We subsequently had contact through the course of pre-production," he said.

"We don't want to sound desperately defensive. It just did happen.

"We were very courteous and respectful but we explained if we were to engage too far over the line then it wouldn't be the story we wanted to tell - that's Philippa's story.

"It wouldn't be the film we wanted to make.

"We couldn't be more proud of our film."

Ms Langley said: "It's not a documentary. It is a movie.

"I have had to fight to get my story told and the film does this."

A spokesperson for the film-makers said: "We stand by our film and Philippa's narrative.

"The university and Richard Taylor have a different narrative, much of which is factually incorrect."

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