A Spoiled Aristo “Destined to be Food for the Fire“
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. William was spoiled rotten, and 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 led to disaster, when the young prince got himself and hundreds of others killed in a stupid accident. It was a disaster not just for himself and those around him, but for England as a whole. It occurred in November, 1120, after a diplomatic visit to France, when a fleet was assembled to transport the royal party across the English Channel back to England.
Seventeen-year-old Prince William planned to cross in the White Ship, the English navy’s proudest and fastest ship. He and his companions turned the affair into a wild party, and postponed their voyage across the Channel, while they got three sheets to the wind drunk on shore with the ship’s crew. Then, in a state of extreme inebriation, the prince and his entourage, which numbered about 300 people, boarded the White Ship to cross the Channel at night. King Henry had sailed hours earlier, and without anyone to tell him “no”, the spoiled prince had – and carried out – a catastrophically dumb idea.
