Distant relatives of England's King Richard III are launching their High Court battle over where to rebury the 15th-century monarch's remains.

The remains of Richard — who was killed in battle in 1485 — were found in a Leicester parking lot.

The government has given Leicester Cathedral in central England permission to rebury the king, but his relatives want him buried in the northern England city of York.

The relatives — under the name the Plantagenet Alliance — are bringing legal action that begins Thursday at the High Court against the government and the University of Leicester.

They claim that the government did not consult widely enough — or consider the wishes of Richard or his descendant — on where the monarch should be reburied.