"A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"... Never mind a horse... a kingdom might just about cover the price of the ridiculous state funeral awarded to the bones of the English King Richard in Leicester.

Of course those were actually Shakespeare's words from his play Richard the Third which ends with the controversial monarch dying on the battlefield in 1485 along with presumably hundreds of common men. In 2012 his remains were uncovered under a car park in Leicester city. Lots of tests and investigations verified that it was definitely him.

On Sunday the beginning of a state funeral began and in fact will continue until Thursday at a cost of £2.5 million.

These costs, we are told, are being met by private donations to Leicester cathedral.

Which is just as well, for if auld Richard wasn't as lucky to have wealthy benefactors then it would have been a 'paupers burial' for him. That type of 'state funeral' is vastly different to the lavish ceremonial performance we see in Leicester.

For the 'common-folk' state funerals have a different meaning. Funeral poverty is a potent indicator of the combined impact of the recession, austerity, low wages and the uncertain job market.

Many workers cannot afford funeral policies anymore. With the average cost of a basic funeral being £3,590 it's no wonder that funeral poverty has risen by 125% since 2010.

Funeral charities and crematorium staff have reported a rise in demand for the state funded funeral grant. The State's basic funeral payment is £700. It hasn't been increased for 10 years even although funeral inflation has gone up 7.1%.

The National Association of Funeral directors has lobbied for an increase in the grant. This is primarily to suit them of course. Their research shows an average shortfall of £1500 because families simply cannot pay the bill. Fifty per cent of people who apply for the grants are rejected because someone close to the deceased has a job and is deemed capable of paying. Reality is that very few low paid workers will have a spare three and a half grand lying around.

There will be many unfortunate families struggling to cover the cost of a loved one's funeral this week. They will view the nonsense money being spent on a five hundred year old 'bag of bones', with no immediate distraught and grieving family members, as insulting.

By all accounts King Richard had a mean streak. In his favour, he was ahead of his time by introducing revolutionary legal principles in his day like bail, the presumption of innocence and the concept of 'blind' justice. The biggest problem nowadays is the law courts remaining 'blind' to injustice in the face of cruel policies like the bedroom tax, benefit sanctions forcing people to work for nothing and indiscriminate benefit caps which force poor families out of their homes in parts of London because property prices are so high. If Richard was to open his eyes again, he would recognise a society as badly divided between the rich and poor now, as it was in his day over 500 years ago.

As for Leicester Cathedral... it would have suited them better to support the many funeral charities in the country than to lord it over a funeral for one man who fell from his horse!