Richard III, brutally disturbed from peaceful rest under a Leicester car park, has emerged to a new world, where skewering now takes place on social networks, rather than battlefields.
Jokes began on Twitter about the Plantagenet monarch's remains long before scientists from the University of Leicester had confirmed the bones were those of the former King of England.
But the mercilessness of Richard III's reign was matched by that of the 21st century 24-hour news cycle, with the news of Chris Huhne's guilty plea arriving just as king was enjoying his 500-year overdue moment in the spotlight, with camera's cutting to Southwark Crown Court.