Ordinarily I have very little interest in monarchy except to hope for its swift abolition, even less so the ancient monarchy of a foreign country.

The dispute regarding the future burial of Richard III of England (Letters, February 27) has so far overlooked one central issue – Richard was a Catholic.

Despite the Church of England's eagerness to claim him, the reality is that Richard died almost half a century prior to its creation. Ironically, had Richard not been deposed the likelihood is that Anglicanism wouldn't exist at all.

The daughter of the King of Aragon is unlikely to have been married to a minor English aristocrat (as Henry VIII would have been), and so the 16th century Jeremy Kyle Show which became Henry's love life and eventually brought forth the break with Rome would have been avoided.

Assuming (as seems likely) that Richard made a confession before taking the battlefield at Bosworth and thereby repented of his apparent sins, then a familiar and contemporaneous Catholic funeral would be far more appropriate than an alien Protestant innovation which post-dated his death.

I would suggest the use of the Sarum Rite – a variation of the Roman Rite which was popular in England during Richard's lifetime and was the standard practice for English royal funerals of the day. I would also favour Richard's burial in an English Catholic site, possibly Westminster Cathedral.

Chris McLaughlin,

71b Braidpark Drive,

Giffnock.