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The University of Leicester archaelogical team confirmed that the car park skeleton was that of the last Plantagenet

A skeleton found in a Leicester car park has been identified beyond reasonable doubt as the remains of Richard III, ending a centuries-old mystery of where he was buried.

At a press conference on Monday, Richard Buckley, the archaeologist leading the search, said it was the academic conclusion of the University of Leicester that beyond reasonable doubt the individual exhumed at Grey Friars in August 2012 is indeed Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England.

DNA sequencing of two living descendants of the king matched against DNA gathered from the skeleton ultimately proved the case.

I never expected the match to be so close, said one of them, Michael Ibsen, a 55-year old Canadian furniture maker whose late mother, Joy, was traced as a direct descendant of Richard IIIs sister, Anne of York.

It was all a bit abstract at first. After all, lots of people are related to somebody famous. But Im stunned by the result.

Images of the skeleton were shown with experts pointing out the 10 wounds eight to the skull that Richard endured in battle at the point of, or close to, death.

Mathew Morris, archaeologist and site manager, said: I dont know what the odds are, but if Id put my trench 50 centimetres further east I could have missed it entirely.

Sir Peter Soulsby, Leicesters mayor, announced that permission had been obtained from the Ministry of Justice for the body to be reinterred in Leicester Cathedral, ending weeks of speculation as to where the kings remains would be sent and which tourist attraction would benefit.

Richard III was always known to have been buried in Leicester following his defeat at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, an event that ended the Wars of the Roses, with the Plantagenet dynasty replaced by the Tudors.

However, after the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s there were reports his remains were thrown into the nearby River Soar. Indeed the GoLeicestershire website, which offers a Richard III heritage trail, was on Monday still sticking to this version of events.

Prof Buckley said in the pantheon of famous finds involving monarchs, emperors and pharaohs its up there in the top five discoveries. But he conceded that, as archaeological evidence of medieval Britain, it was probably less important than the Staffordshire hoard discovery of Saxon jewellery.

The Bosworth heritage trail attracts about 40,000 visitors a year. Michael Knox, heritage development manager of Leicestershire county council, predicted that Richard IIIs tomb would multiply that number.

The slides revealed the bodys twisted spine, with evidence of severe scoliosis, although not as pronounced as that depicted by Shakespeares portrayal of the king as a hunchback.

The skeleton showed signs of trauma to the skull, although what appeared to be a barbed iron arrow head lodged between two vertebrae is believed to be a Roman nail.

The victor, Henry VII, is said to have paraded Richards body through the Leicester streets to prove he was dead. As the loser, Richard was given a low-key burial in a Franciscan friary, the site of last summers dig.

The earlier row over his final resting place was reminiscent of medieval cities fighting each other over saints relics in a bid to ensure pilgrim visitors a source of revenue similar to todays tourist attractions.