A Drunk Race that Led to Disaster
The drunk Prince William and his friends challenged the White Ship’s captain and crew to make a race of it and catch King Henry’s ship. His Majesty had sailed hours earlier, but the prince and his buddies wanted to see if they could pass his ship before it reached England. Captain and crew, confident of their ship’s speed, accepted the challenge. The crew, just as drunk as their passengers, rowed furiously while they were cheered and urged on by the intoxicated prince and his friends. They set a good pace, but in their plastered state, the crew failed to keep a good lookout and rowed into a hazardous stretch. There, they struck a partially submerged rock.
The White Ship was holed and quickly sank. Hundreds drowned in the disaster, including the prince. William was his father’s only legitimate male issue, and his death caused a succession crisis. King Henry failed to sire another son, and so sought to designate his daughter, Matilda, as his heir. His barons reluctantly agreed, but reneged when Henry died in 1135. Most of England’s aristocrats backed the deceased king’s nephew, Stephen of Blois, when he claimed and seized the crown as the eldest male royal relative. The result was a civil war that tore England apart for decades.
