King Æthelred the Unready married his second wife Emma of Normandy in 1002 and her elder son Edward the Confessor was born around 1004.

England was conquered by Canute of Denmark later that year, and Alfred and Edward returned to the court of their uncle, Duke Richard II of Normandy.

Alfred Ætheling landed on the coast of Sussex with a Norman mercenary body guard and attempted to make his way to London.

[5] When Harthacnut succeeded his half-brother Harold, he prosecuted Earl Godwin and Lyfing, Bishop of Worcester and Crediton, for the crime against his half-brother; the Bishop lost his see for a while and Godwin gave the King a warship carrying eighty fighting men as appeasement and swore that he had not wanted the prince blinded and that whatever he had done was in obedience to King Harold.

Alfred's death was one of the main reasons for the mistrust and resentment shown by many members of Anglo-Saxon society, and particularly from Edward himself, towards Earl Godwin and his sons.