A MEDIEVAL English monarch who left behind a hugely controversial legacy is now the subject of two children’s books written by a woman from Cross Roads.

Carol Fellingham Webb, who was part of the campaign to try and bring King Richard III’s remains back to Yorkshire following the sensational discovery of his body in Leicester in 2012, has written The Order of the White Boar.

She has released the book under the pen name Alex Marchant.

The book, which is the first of two works aimed at readers aged 10 and older, tells the story of the final three years of Richard’s life through the eyes of a young boy who enters his service at Middleham Castle in the summer of 1482.

Ms Fellingham Webb’s second book, The King’s Man, will be published in spring 2018. It will continue the story of Richard III up to the fateful day of August 22 1485, and beyond.

On that day Richard was defeated and killed at the pivotal Battle of Bosworth Field by the forces of Henry Tudor.

Ms Fellingham Webb explained her intention has been to communicate the king’s story to younger readers based on original sources, rather than on hostile Tudor accounts of Richard III’s life.

She added: “The whole point of the books is to contribute to the reassessment of King Richard’s reputation by going back to the original sources.

“I took the decision to adopt a nom-de-plume for the books – Alex Marchant.

“The reason for this is that I understand boys still are less inclined to read books by female authors, so I opted for a gender-neutral name in the hope of not alienating potentially half my readership!

“The Order of the White Boar has been very well received so far, with five star reviews on both Amazon UK and USA, and some excellent reviews elsewhere too, including from people who aren’t Ricardians.

“It is already being stocked at the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre and the Barnet 1471 Battlefield Society, with interest also from Middleham Castle, the Leicester King Richard Visitor Centre and the Yorkshire Museum.

“I’m planning to attend various events over the coming year, including at Barnet and the Middleham Richard III Festival.”

She said she had begun writing the first book within days of the news that the body found under a Leicester car park was indeed that of Richard III.

“Many books for adults have been written about him, including plenty since the 2012 discovery,” she said.

“But strangely so far there have been very few for children.”

The first of her two books can be bought in both paperback and e-book format on Amazon at myBook.to/WhiteBoar

People can also visit blurb.co.uk/b/8167813-the-order-of-the-white-boar for copies.