Drunk Boat Race Causes a Succession Dispute and Plunges England Into Anarchy
William the Aetheling (1103 – 1120) was the heir and sole legitimate son of King Henry I of England. He was also the Duke of Normandy in his own right, after his father fought successful battles in France to compel the Norman barons to recognize William as their Duke. From an early age, William was spoiled rotten. A contemporary chronicler wrote that he was pampered so much, that it was clear he was “destined to be food for the fire“. That indulgence would have fatal consequences, when the young prince got himself killed in a stupid accident that wrecked his father’s plans, and plunged England into a succession dispute and violent chaos. It began in November, 1120, after a diplomatic visit to France, when a fleet was assembled to transport King Henry and his court across the English Channel back to England.
The seventeen-year-old Prince William made plans to cross in a vessel known as the White Ship, the English navy’s pride and fastest ship. William and his companions turned the affair into a wild party, and delayed the crossing while they got plastered on shore with the ship’s crew. Then, in a state of high intoxication, the prince and his entourage, about 300 people, boarded the White Ship to cross the Channel at night. By then, King Henry had already sailed hours earlier. The drunk prince and his friends challenged the ship’s captain and crew to make a race of it and catch and bypass the king’s ship before it reached England. As seen below, it did not end well.
