DNA tests have confirmed the skeletal remains found beneath a car park in Leicester are those of the infamous English monarch, Richard III.

Lead archaeologist Richard Buckley said the tests proved the remains were the king's "beyond reasonable doubt".

It came after a DNA sample extracted from the skeleton's bones matched with that of two living descendents – Canadian Michael Ibsen, who can trace his bloodline back to Richard III's family, and a second person who asked to remain anonymous.

Dr Turi King, a geneticist at the university, said: "The DNA sequence obtained from the Grey Friars skeletal remains was compared to the two maternal line relatives of Richard III.

"We were very excited to find there is a DNA match between the maternal DNA from the family of Richard III and the skeletal remains we found at the Grey Friars dig."

The skeleton, unearthed last September from a car park behind social services offices, also had a severely curved spine, matching accounts of Richard III's hunchbacked appearance.

The monarch was portrayed by Shakespeare as a villain blighted by deformity, who famously cried out "a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse" before being slain on the battlefield.

The skeleton was found with a metal arrow in its back and severe trauma to the skull, consistent with historical accounts the monarch was fatally "pole-axed" in the head during the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.

Dr Jo Appleby, a lecturer in Human Bioarchaeology at Leicester University who led the exhumation, said the skeleton also showed a number of non-fatal injuries to the head, rib and pelvis, which may be "humiliation injuries" inflicted after his death.

She said: "The skeleton has a number of unusual features: its slender build, the scoliosis and the battle-related trauma," she said.

It was discovered in the same area of what was Grey Friars church where Richard III was recorded to have been buried following his death, which brought to an end the bloody Wars of the Roses.

The friary was subsequently demolished during the reign of Henry VIII, eliminating any trace of the late king's grave.

The hunt was driven by the Edinburgh-based screenwriter and secretary of the Richard III Society, Philippa Langley, after a suspicion about the king's whereabouts led her to obtain planning permission from Leicester City Council to commission an archaeological dig of the car park.

When funding fell through at the last minute, she raised £13,000 from an appeal to "Ricardians" around the world.

She said: "On a very particular spot, I had the strongest sensation that I was walking on Richard's grave. On a subsequent visit, I found a little white 'R' painted on the exact same spot. Of course it was 'R' for 'reserved', not 'R' for Richard but from that moment on, I was on a mission."

The monarch's remains will now be laid to rest in Leicester Cathedral. Details of the ceremony are still being planned.