His father, King Henry I of England, had married his mother, Matilda of Scotland, to conciliate his English subjects.

Matilda was descended from Edmund Ironside and was a great-niece of Edward the Confessor; as such, the marriage represented a union between the new Norman rulers of England and the old Anglo-Saxon dynasty.

The Duke and his companions had been crossing the English Channel from Barfleur in the Blanche-Nef, the swiftest and most modern ship in the royal fleet.

William and his party had remained drinking on the shore until after dark, confident that in a fast ship and on the still sea the delay would have no real effect.

"[1] Henry of Huntingdon, speaking of the disaster, wrote that William, "instead of wearing embroidered robes…floated naked in the waves, and instead of ascending a lofty throne…found his grave at the bottom of the sea.

After King Henry died in 1135, William's sister Empress Matilda and cousin Stephen of Blois waged a long war for the English throne in what is known as The Anarchy.