Page "Ælfthryth, wife of Edgar" Paragraph 9

On 18 March 978, while visiting Ælfthryth at Corfe Castle, King Edward was killed by servants of the Queen, leaving the way clear for Æthelred to be installed as king.

Edward was soon considered a martyr, and later medieval accounts blamed Ælfthryth for his murder.

Due to Æthelred's youth, Ælfthryth served as regent for her son until his coming of age in 984.

By then her earlier allies Æthelwold and Ælfhere had died, and Æthelred rebelled against his old advisers, preferring a group of younger nobility.

She disappears from the list of charter witnesses from around 983 to 993, when she reappears in a lower position.

She remained an important figure, being responsible for the care of Æthelred's children by his first wife, Ælfgifu.

Æthelred's eldest son, Æthelstan Ætheling, prayed for the soul of the grandmother " who brought me up " in his will in 1014.