There was some mild controversy prior to this film's UK release when several people involved in the archaeological dig gave interviews to some UK newspapers (notably The Guardian and Daily Mail) disputing the events depicted in the film and accusing the scriptwriters of romanticizing and overplaying the role of Philippa Langley in the actual locating and discovery of Richard III's resting place. This criticism prompted the film's producer, co-writer and co-star Steve Coogan to give an interview to the BBC defending the storyline of the film and accusing the University of Leicester of trying to discredit the role Langley played in the discovery. He believed that they were embarrassed that she had out-thought several of their renowned historical experts and they were not happy that this was portrayed within the film.
Just before the cut to Sally Hawkins, the real Philippa Langley with her blonde hair and features is seen seated in the choir for the re-burial of Richard III.
Most modern views of Richard III (1452-1485) came from William Shakespeare's famous play, written over 100 years after the King had died. Most interpretations of Richard III have him portrayed as a hunchbacked crippled man and some historical experts had wondered if this interpretation of him may just have been part of Shakespeare's instructions to his actors, in order to help accentuate his presence and vilify him to the audience. However, the discovery of the bones in September 2012 did indeed prove that Richard III appeared to have a significantly kyphotic spine, though further investigation of the skeleton showed that he had scoliosis, not kyphosis and therefore any abnormality wouldn't have been visible when he was fully clothed.
The film alludes to Philippa working out where the body was buried with very little help other than a prompt from a biographer. This is a slight distortion of the truth as there were already two published biographies at the time (that she may have read) that theorized the same thing and in more or less the same place. However, Philippa was more proactive in pushing for an archaeological dig at the site than the two authors.
Interestingly the bones of Richard III were discovered buried just 2 ft (about 60cm) from the surface indicating he was buried in a hurry and without great ceremony. Examination of the skull showed he was probably killed by a blow from a long sharp object to the back of the head (thought to possibly be from a halberd or similar).