Richard III is prepared for his reinterment
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Richard III may have kept his bent spine a secret right up until his death in 1485, researchers have claimed.
University of Leicester academics said it was likely only a few servants and medical staff within the royal household were aware of his scoliosis.
Dr Mary Ann Lund said it was only after his death he earned his reputation as "Crookback Richard" and was portrayed with a withered arm.
Richard III: King 'hid' his bent spine researchers claim
13 April 2015
BBC News
When Richard's skeleton was found under a Leicester car park in 2012, the marked curve in its vertebrae was the first clue it could be the monarch
Richard III may have kept his bent spine a secret right up until his death in 1485, researchers have claimed.
University of Leicester academics said it was likely only a few servants and medical staff within the royal household were aware of his scoliosis.
Dr Mary Ann Lund said it was only after his death he earned his reputation as "Crookback Richard" and was portrayed with a withered arm.
The research has been published in the Medical Humanities journal.
Shakespeare depicted Richard as physically and mentally grotesque, an image of the king which has stuck.
His name was blackened by the new Tudor dynasty, Dr Lund said.
However, she said it was "highly likely Richard took care to control his public image" during his reign.
"Tailoring probably kept the signs of his scoliosis hidden to spectators outside the royal household of attendants, servants and medical staff who dressed, bathed and tended to the monarch's body.
"The body of a mediaeval monarch was always under scrutiny, and Richard III's was no exception," she said.
Richard, the last English king to die in battle, was killed at Bosworth Field in 1485
Dr Lund said it was the stripping of Richard's corpse at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 that first made his physical shape noticeable to many hundreds of witnesses.
She added there was "no mention" of Richard's scoliosis from during his lifetime, "perhaps out of respect to a reigning monarch", and that one account described him as "slim and lean, with fine boned limbs".
Richard III: King 'hid' his bent spine researchers claim - BBC News