Church leaders have been left disappointed after order of service booklets from the reinterment of Richard III went on sale on eBay.
According to MailOnline, dozens of copies of the booklets – which were printed for the reburial of the Plantagenet king last Thursday – have already gone up for sale on the online marketplace with bids reaching a huge £225.
The Dean of Leicester, the Very Rev David Monteith, has shared his sadness over people cashing in on the event.
He added that the cathedral had been planning to print a full set of three service booklets itself – marking the coffins arrival, the reburial and the revealing of the tomb – costing £12.50, with some of the profits going towards the £2.5 million needed to hold the event.
He said: "We’ve noticed that service booklets from the cathedral’s services are being sold for extortionate prices on eBay, presumably by those who attended the services.
"This is very sad – many would have welcomed being there and keeping this as a souvenir.
"We have had extra copies printed and we are selling a set of all three for £12.50 to cover costs from Christian Resources in St Martin’s House, next door to the cathedral."
Meanwhile, actor Benedict Cumberbatch – who is the king’s third cousin, 16 times removed – has described the reburial of his distant relative as "extraordinary".
The 38-year-old star read a poem by Carol Ann Duffy during the service last week and added he was honoured to be witnessing the reinterment after the remains of the king were found under a car park, 527 years after the Battle of Bosworth, in 2012.
He said: "It’s an extraordinary moment to be witnessing a monarch who has been found after hundreds of years in a car park being reinterred in a cathedral hundreds of yards away. It is a very special thing to witness, let alone be asked to perform at."
Order of service from Richard III’s reburial sold on eBay
