New DNA tests reveal Britain 's long-lost King Richard III was blue-eyed and likely blond-haired , but they also raise intriguing questions over whether he -- and other monarchs before and since -- should have been on the throne at all . Experts researching the case of the `` King in the car park '' -- a set of remains dug up from beneath a parking lot in the central English city of Leicester in 2012 -- now say they are 99.999 % positive that the bones are those of Richard III , who died at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 . Genetic specialist Turi King , from the University of Leicester , said analysis of various genetic markers offered tantalizing clues to Richard III 's appearance -- suggesting that he was not the dark-haired , steely-eyed monarch portrayed in well-known historical images . `` [ There are ] genes that we know are involved in coding for hair and eye color ... The genetic evidence shows he had a 96 % probability of having blue eyes , and a 77 % probability of having blond hair , though this can darken with age . '' While there are no contemporary portraits of Richard -- all known works post-date his death by at least 25 to 30 years , leaving the artists who painted them open to charges that they were influenced by propaganda -- the DNA findings suggest the arch-framed portrait of Richard , owned by the Society of Antiquaries of London , is the closest to his real appearance . King said the latest scientific evidence , combined with statistical analysis -- published in Nature Communications and funded by the Wellcome Trust and Leverhulme Trust -- provided `` overwhelming '' proof of the skeleton 's identity : `` At its most conservative , it 's 99.999 % certain , '' she explained . `` The likelihood ratio is 6.7 million to one that these are Richard 's remains . '' Richard III 's bones reveal fatal blows . But while detailed genetic testing and painstaking genealogical research helped confirm that one living relative on Richard 's female line , Michael Ibsen , was an exact match to his mitochondrial DNA , and found a second , previously unknown but near-perfect mitochondrial match in New Zealand-born Londoner Wendy Duldig , scientists were n't able to trace a living relative on the male line , using the Y chromosome . And that has raised an intriguing possibility : that neither he , nor many other monarchs , actually had a cast-iron claim to the throne . Genealogy expert Kevin Shürer said it had been relatively straightforward to trace potential living relatives of Richard III along the male line , since records of the peerage -- Britain 's `` nobility '' -- made it simple to follow such families back century after century . But once five potential living relatives from the male line , linking Richard III to his predecessor Edward III ( because Richard himself had no surviving children ) and back down the generations via John of Gaunt ( 1340-1399 ) and Henry Somerset , the fifth Duke of Beaufort ( 1744-1803 ) , had been identified , things became more complicated . One of the five was quickly eliminated from the puzzle because his Y chromosome DNA did not match the other four , suggesting a relatively recent `` false paternity event , '' and when King carried out checks on the Y chromosome DNA of the remaining four , she discovered there was no match there either , revealing at least one other case of `` false paternity '' in the generations of fathers and sons leading back to Edward III . `` We ca n't tell you where that break is , because we simply do n't know -- it could be at any one of the 19 links in the chain between those two individuals , '' Shürer said , adding that while each link in that chain was equally likely to be the one which was `` broken , '' if the break occurred in the first few generations , around Richard III , it could bring various monarchs ' right to rule into question . `` There are some well-known and important people on that chain , '' he said . `` You have two monarchs , Richard and Edward III ; if the break occurred on the Yorkist line ... then that might raise questions about the legitimacy of the Yorkists ' claim to the throne . `` The Lancastrian line comes through John of Gaunt 's side of the family ... so if the break were on that side , it raises questions about the legitimacy of the Lancastrian monarchs , and because there was a Tudor link to that line as well , also the Tudors . '' But he said the Tudors also had another argument for their right to rule , since they `` took the throne by force , at the Battle of Bosworth . '' And he was quick to point out that whatever the implications of the latest discovery , current monarch Queen Elizabeth II 's position was secure . `` We 're certainly not saying the House of Windsor has no legitimate claim to the throne , far from it , '' Shürer explained . `` Royal succession does n't work like that . There is no linear succession line between Edward III and Elizabeth II . Yes , they are related , but the whole point of monarchy is that over several centuries it takes various twists and turns . `` Monarchy is about opportunity and chance as much as it is about bloodline . '' Richard III 's taste for luxury revealed . Scientists to sequence Richard III 's genome .
DNA tests reveal long-lost King Richard III probably had blond hair , blue eyes . Scientists 99.999 percent certain remains found in parking lot are those of monarch . Experts say chances are 6.7 million to one that skeleton belongs to last Plantagenet king . Attempts to trace male line through Y chromosome failed because of 'false paternity event '