Research at the University of Leicester can even give us a clue as to what Richard III sounded like. Dr Philip Shaw, Lecturer in English Language and Old English in our School of English, has studied two letters written by Richard when he was Duke of Gloucester. In the podcast below, you can hear Dr Shaw read these letters using the approximate pronunciation and accent that we believe Richard would have used. Interestingly, the language and spelling betrays no sign of a northern dialect, being closer to what we now consider a West Midlands accent.