King Richard III would have sounded more like a Brummie than a northerner, according to a language expert.


He studied the king's use of grammar and spelling in postscripts on the letters.


Despite being the patriarch of the House of York, the king's accent "could probably associate more or less with the West Midlands" than from Yorkshire or the North of England, said Dr Shaw.

"But that's an accent you might well see in London - an educated London accent," he said.

"Possibly even a northern one but there are no northern symptoms, so there's nothing to suggest a Yorkshire accent in the way that he writes, I'm sorry to say for anyone who associates him with Yorkshire."




Dr Shaw said although some of the writings would have been done by secretaries, the "quirks" of King Richard's added notes provided an insight.

He said: "Like today, there were various dialects around the country.


"The language shows no evidence of northern English dialect features, largely reflecting the relatively standard, London-derived spelling system also used by Richard's secretaries.

"However, there is also at least one spelling he employs that may suggest a West Midlands accent."

Audio: Dr Philip Shaw of the University of Leicester reads out a letter written by Richard III :