Audio: How did Richard III sound?

A facial reconstruction of King Richard III is unveiled by the Richard III Society (Getty Images)

Letters written by Richard III could offer us clues as to how he might have spoken during his lifetime.

In a podcast from the University of Leicester Dr. Philip Shaw discusses how the monarch may have sounded and attempts to replicate his speech by reading out the letters.

One of the letters was written before Richard became king and it is the earliest surviving letter, dating back to 1469. While the second one was from 1483 after the monarch learnt of the Duke of Buckingham's rebellion against him.

The podcast comes after a facial reconstruction of the king was unveiled today more than 500 years after his death. The reconstruction is based on the skull found under a cark park in Leicester and was put together by Caroline Wilkinson, professor of craniofacial identification at Dundee University, an expert in building up three-dimensional fleshy models based on bone structure.

Listen to the podcast below