[3] A late eleventh or early twelfth century Canterbury chronicler identified the father of Ecgberht with the Ealhmund who was king of Kent.
For instance, after he briefly dethroned Wiglaf of Mercia in 829, Wessex kept control over the southeast, with Ecgberht holding councils in Kent and involving the Kentish nobility in the affairs of the province.
Edwards notes that this style of ruling was very different from the Mercian overlords who issued charters relating to Kentish affairs from councils held in Mercia.
[6] The question is whether the compiler knew of Ealhmund only from the coincidence of the charter and genealogy or if he had access to vanished sources that connected Ecgberht to the royal line of Kent, which he considers unlikely but not impossible.
[10] While, he concedes that a forged genealogy could be used to legitimise a dynasty with little concern to biological fact, Naismith argues that the assertion that the people of Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Essex had been forced away from Ecgberht's kinsmen may have an alternative explanation more in line with a West Saxon origin.
He mentions the reigns of Cædwalla and Ine, who ruled over substantial parts of Southern England, including most or all of the territory taken by Ecgberht in 825.