Although genealogist David H. Kelley and historian Pauline Stafford have identified him as Æthelhelm, a son of Edward's uncle, King Æthelred of Wessex,[1][2] this relationship is highly unlikely.
[4] In 1827 the tomb of St Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral was opened, and among the objects found were a stole and maniple which had inscriptions showing that they had been commissioned by Ælfflæd for bishop Frithestan of Winchester.
[5] Ælfflæd had two sons, Ælfweard, who as the 12th-century Textus Roffensis suggests, may have become king of Wessex on his father's death in 924 but died himself within a month, and Edwin, who was drowned in 933.
According to William of Malmesbury, Edward put aside Ælfflæd in order to marry Eadgifu, a claim which Sean Miller viewed sceptically,[8] but it is accepted by other historians.
[9] She adopted a religious life, but outside a regular monastic house as she retained possession of her estates, and was buried at Wilton Abbey with her daughters, Eadflæd and Æthelhild.