The Lost King

There was controversy prior to the movie's UK release when several people involved in the archaeological dig gave interviews to some UK newspapers (notably The Guardian and Daily Mail) disputing the events depicted in the movie and accusing the scriptwriters of romanticizing and overplaying the role of Philippa Langley in the actual locating and discovery of Richard III's resting place. This criticism prompted the movie's producer, co-writer and co-star Steve Coogan to give an interview to the BBC defending the storyline and accusing the University of Leicester of trying to discredit the role Langley played in the discovery. He believed that they were embarrassed that she had out-thought several of their renowned historical experts and they were not happy that this was portrayed within the movie.

When Philippa goes to the archives, she is about to consult a very old manuscript with many precautions and when the camera shows above her shoulder it shows a modern printed text whose gutter is barely suggested by a line, a failed opportunity to show the difficulties of amateurs faced with old Gothic writing with different signs according to the editor, the academy had not yet standardized.