{"id":531595,"date":"2025-10-27T18:07:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T18:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/531595\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T18:07:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T18:07:11","slug":"steve-coogan-settles-libel-claim-over-richard-iii-film-the-lost-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/531595\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Coogan Settles Libel Claim Over Richard III Film ‘The Lost King’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSteve Coogan<\/a>, his production company Baby Cow and Path\u00e9 Productions have settled a libel claim over their 2022 film \u201cThe Lost King<\/a>,\u201d with the university employee who sued over his depiction in the film being awarded \u201csubstantial damages.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film, which was written by Coogan and stars him and Sally Hawkins, tells the story of how the remains of British monarch King Richard III were discovered in Leicester in 2012. Richard Taylor, the deputy registrar at the University of Leicester at the time who was played by Lee Ingleby in the film, sued last year<\/a> over what his lawyer alleged was an \u201carrogant villain\u201d depiction. <\/p>\n

\n\tOn Monday, the BBC reported<\/a> that a settlement had been reached and the case will no longer go to trial. Taylor had claimed that the character based on him was \u201cdismissive, patronizing and misogynistic\u201d toward the historian Philippa Langley, played by Hawkins.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition to paying Taylor damages, \u201cThe Lost King\u201d will now feature an on-screen clarification at the beginning of the film that reads: \u201cWhilst in this film there is a character called Richard Taylor who is shown to be an employee of the University of Leicester, the portrayal of him is fictional and does not represent the actions of the real Mr. Taylor, who was employed by the University of Leicester as its Deputy Registrar, and acted with\u00a0integrity during the events portrayed.\u201d No other editorial changes will be made to the film.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn June, Judge Jaron Lewis ruled that the film portrayed Taylor as having \u201cknowingly misrepresented facts to the media and the public\u201d about the discovery of Richard III\u2019s remains and acting \u201csmug, unduly dismissive and patronizing,\u201d which could constitute as defamation. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m really pleased that we have finally established that the film is a defamatory portrayal of me \u2014 baseless in its depiction of me and a distortion of the search for Richard III,\u201d Taylor said to the BBC on Monday. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t let that detract from what was a fantastic piece of teamwork, a collaborative experience where university academics and amateurs came together to search for Richard III.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn response to the settlement, Coogan, Baby Cow and Path\u00e9 said in a joint statement: \u201cAs a distributor and producer recognized for bringing complex, real-life stories to audiences, we are deeply aware of the responsibility that comes with such portrayals and approach each project with care, integrity and a commitment to authenticity. We remain incredibly proud of this film and are pleased this matter has now been settled.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCoogan added in his own statement that due to Langley\u2019s \u201cill health\u201d they were \u201cunable to put evidence before the court so that the judge could independently come to a decision on the matter, which I would have preferred.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe statement continued: \u201cPhilippa Langley instigated the search for Richard III. Philippa Langley insisted on the dig in the Northern area of the social services carpark where the remains were found. Philippa Langley raised the majority of the money for his exhumation \u2014 if it wasn\u2019t for Philippa Langley, Richard III would still lying under a carpark in Leicester. It is her name that will be remembered in relation to the discovery of the lost king, long after Richard Taylor has faded into obscurity.\u00a0 As already stated, the only changes to the film will be a front card which will follow the existing card which says that this film is a true story \u2013\u00a0PHILIPPA LANGLEY\u2019S STORY.\u00a0That is the story I wanted to tell, and I am happy I did.\u00a0I won\u2019t be commenting further at this stage as I consult with lawyers on the inflammatory comments made by Richard Taylor about me personally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPath\u00e9 had previously defended the film, telling Variety<\/a> in March 2024 that \u201cThe Lost King\u201d was a \u201cfeature film, not a documentary\u201d and was \u201cnot a literal portrayal of exact words.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPath\u00e9 has a long, respected and successful history of financing and distributing dramatic motion pictures based on real people, events and stories (including \u2018The Queen,\u2019 \u2018The Iron Lady,\u2019 \u2018Philomena,\u2019 \u2018Selma,\u2019 \u2018Pride,\u2019 \u2018Judy\u2019 and \u2018The Great Escaper\u2019) and we stand by our decision to finance \u2018The Lost King,\u2019 to give Philippa Langley a voice and to bring her story to the screen,\u201d the company said at the time. \u201cWe will respect the judge\u2019s decision and are confident that the film doesn\u2019t bear the meaning which Richard Taylor is alleging. It was never Path\u00e9\u2019s intention to misrepresent anyone and we believe we will succeed in defending the film and Path\u00e9\u2019s position.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steve Coogan, his production company Baby Cow and Path\u00e9 Productions have settled a libel claim over their 2022…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3940],"tags":[4080,77,44848,138034,172201,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-531595","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-pathe","11":"tag-steve-coogan","12":"tag-the-lost-king","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115447466893620654","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}