Actor Benedict Cumberbatch has recited a poem written for the reburial of Richard III at Leicester Cathedral's reinterment service.

The poem has been written by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy. Cumberbatch is a third cousin 16 times removed of Richard III.

She was commissioned late last year by Leicester Cathedral, as plans for the services for the week were being discussed and drawn up.

The poem is entitled Richard and it is a meditation on the impact of his finding and on the legacy of his story.

Benedict Cumberbatch (left) and Canon Michael Harrison arrives for a service for the re-burial of Richard III at Leicester Cathedral, where the Hollywood actor is to read a specially written poem. Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire

Richard by Carol Ann Duffy

My bones, scripted in light, upon cold soil,

a human braille. My skull, scarred by a crown,

emptied of history. Describe my soul

as incense, votive, vanishing; your own

the same. Grant me the carving of my name.

These relics, bless. Imagine you re-tie

a broken string and on it thread a cross,

the symbol severed from me when I died.

The end of time - an unknown, unfelt loss -

unless the Resurrection of the Dead...

or I once dreamed of this, your future breath

in prayer for me, lost long, forever found;

or sensed you from the backstage of my death,

as kings glimpse shadows on a battleground.